


Together Again

by Cats_Dont_Float



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abuse, F/F, F/M, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Post-Battle of Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-07-20 19:45:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16144220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cats_Dont_Float/pseuds/Cats_Dont_Float
Summary: After the war, it was hard for Harry to work out what to do with his life. After months of being alone, and struggling to cope, he eventually realised he wasn't the only one trying to deal with what had happened. That was how he came to be opening the doors of Grimmauld Place to all who needed a place to stay for a while, away from the reality of life. little did he know that that one action would lead to his life being changed forever in more than one way.There was a time when everyone worked together, and Harry wants to bring them all together again.





	1. A New Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected visitor to Grimmauld Place encourages Harry to leave the house for the first time in weeks.

It had been months since the war. Harry hadn't left Grimmauld Place in weeks. He walked down the stairs sometime during the morning and cast a quick glance at the pile of letters near the front door.  
"Master, breakfast is ready," croaked Kreacher's horrible voice from the kitchen.  
"Thank you Kreacher," Harry sighed, walking into the kitchen and sitting down at the wooden table. There was a plate of food sitting there, which he began to eat slowly. Kreacher's cooking was nowhere near as good as meals had been at Hogwarts, but it was still good, and he was grateful for the house elf's loyalty. As he ate, an owl soared through a small open window at the other end of the room, turning sideways and tucking its wings in the get through the narrow gap. One it was inside, it fluttered down and landed on the table. There was a letter tied tightly to one of its legs. Harry took the letter, shooing the bird off as it tried to steal food from his plate. Once the bird was sat on the other end of the table and watching him angrily, Harry unrolled the letter. It read:

Dear Harry,  
Ron and I are worried about you. It's been weeks. Are you going to come over to the burrow soon? We all really want to see you. Maybe we should come over to see you instead. Would you like that? Ron and I were talking about going back to Hogwarts and retaking our last year. Did you make your decision yet? I've written hundreds of these letters, Harry. I'm running out of things to say. Please answer. Just once. I just want to know that you're okay, we all do. From, Hermione.

Harry cast the letter, and looked back up at where the owl was watching him expectantly.  
"I'm not replying," he told it, and the owl rustled its feathers in annoyance. "Kreacher, take this owl outside," he sighed.  
"Yes, master," Kreacher replied, quickly grabbing the owl and rushing off. He heard the owl squawking in alarm as Kreacher apparently threw it out of a window. Harry knew, of course, that he had to leave the house eventually. He needed to face his friends and the life he was now living. But after everything that had happened, he just couldn't. The last time he had seen Hermione and Ron, they had been too protective for his liking, and he was bored of answering everybody's questionings. So he'd kept himself hidden away, working through his own feelings and memories one by one (and writing it all down in a journal, even though he wouldn't admit that to anybody). And every time he thought he'd sorted something out, he found himself with even more questions. So he was keeping himself away from the others for the time being, waiting until he knew what was going on in his own head.

When another owl suddenly appeared, flying through the same window as the first one, Harry debated ignoring it. But, as he looked, he realised he didn't recognise the owl at all. The bird looked very proud of itself, sat there preening its feathers and watching him curiously. The owl was holding a neat letter in it's beak, which it dropped carefully onto the table.  
"Another owl? Would master like me to get rid of it?" Kreacher asked, glancing at the bird.  
"No, leave it," Harry said, and scooped up the letter. There was a green and silver wax seal on the envelope, and Harry knew who it was from instantly. For some reason, he ripped the envelope open eagerly. Perhaps he was just happy to get a letter from someone new for a change, that was what he told himself anyway. He cast the envelope aside and pulled out the paper, scoffing slightly at the perfectly neat handwriting that he recognised so well.

Potter,  
I need your help. Don't tell anyone I said that! You'll have seen that my family were pardoned. But there are problems. I sent the owl to find you, I assume she'll have done her job. No one would tell me where you were, not even your friends. I need to talk to you, but not with a letter, anyone could read it. Please write back so I can meet you (don't ever tell anyone I said that please). Send the owl back, she knows where to go. She likes treats, by the way. - Draco Malfoy.

"What does Malfoy want now?" Harry sighed to himself. Some part of him was slightly worried. He'd never heard Draco ask anyone for hep before, and he was pretty sure something bad had to be wrong, especially if it was Harry that he was having to ask. He still didn't want anyone talking to him about what had happened, but perhaps Draco wouldn't be so bad. He sighed, deciding then and there that he'd have to talk to someone eventually. Maybe Draco would be a good person to start with.  
"Kreacher, bring me a quill and some parchment!" he called. The house elf instantly rushed off as Harry walked over to the cupboard to find some food for the owl, who was getting more impatient by the minute.

-********-

That afternoon, there was a knock at the door, and Kreacher instantly called that he would get it. Harry was sat in the living room, curled up in an armchair at the time, flicking through one of the many weird books he'd found when he first moved in. He put it down on the small coffee table, and stood up. Moments later, Draco strolled into the room, followed eagerly by Kreacher.  
"Potter," Draco said coolly, looking him up and down, "Thank you for answering me."  
"It's no problem," Harry replied, "What's wrong?" he added, realising that Draco looked slightly anxiously shifting around instead of standing still.  
"Uh, can we talk in private?" Draco asked, looking down at Kreacher.  
"Yes," Harry nodded, "Kreacher, take a break for a while, you deserve it."  
"Thank you master!" Kreacher said, and scrambled away happily.  
"You're too nice to your house elves, Potter," Draco said.  
"He deserves it, he does a lot for me," Harry said, "Take a seat."  
"Thank you," Draco said, sitting down on a sofa awkwardly. "This house is horribly dim," he added.  
"I know," Harry replied, "I got used to it. What brought you here in such a state?"

"I am not in a state!" Draco snapped.  
"Okay, whatever," Harry said, holding up his hands in surrender. "What's wrong?"  
"I know that you know a lot of people. I was wondering if you knew anyone that would let me stay with them. I know it's not very likely, what with everything I've done over the years." Draco sighed.  
"Why do you need somewhere to stay?" Harry asked curiously.  
"I told my parents some things a few days ago," Draco said quietly, "I don't think I'm welcome there anymore. I left this morning and I don't intend to go back."  
"What did you tell them?" Harry asked.  
"That's none of your business, Potter!" Draco snapped.  
"I'm only trying to help you," Harry sighed. "I don't know if I can find you somewhere to stay. I haven't been talking to anyone lately."  
"That's okay, I suppose it was worth a try. There's got to be somewhere else I can go," Draco sighed, hanging his head slightly.

Harry sat for a few moments thinking. He could only think of one solution, and it didn't seem like a great idea to him. He looked up again as he heard movement, and saw Draco heading for the door. In that moment he realised it didn't matter what Draco wasn't telling him. He knew the other boy had changed now, he'd talked to him a few times since the war, and it had been like talking to a completely different person.  
"Draco!" he called suddenly, and Draco seemed slightly shocked to be called by his first name, "You could always stay here. There's a bunch of spare rooms and the house is more than big enough for two people."  
Draco chuckled miserably, "That's going to make way too many problems. Imagine what all your friends would think. The boy who lived, sharing a house with the boy who tried to kill him."  
"Is that your new nickname?" Harry joked, and then sighed when Draco's face stayed serious. "Who cares what they say? I want to help you because I know you've changed. So will you please stay, even if it's just for a night or two?"  
"If you insist," Draco sighed. "I really don't think this is a good idea."  
"It's probably not, but who cares?" Harry laughed. "We have good food, and you'll have a place to stay. Maybe it could be fun."  
"Fun, sure," Draco scoffed. "SO, uh, where's this room you were talking about?"  
"Don't you need to go back and get any stuff?" Harry asked.  
"I have what I need shrunk in my bag," Draco told him.  
"In that case, follow me," Harry sighed, and began to head upstairs.

He walked past his own room, and headed up the hall to an empty room. He'd cleared everything out when he first moved in to get rid of the painful memories, and also to make it feel more like his own house. Now most of the rooms were empty apart from basic furniture. Harry pushed open one door, and peered in. The room was slightly dusty. All there was left in there was a bed, a wardrobe and a set of drawers.  
"Sorry, it's really empty," Harry apologised, stepping sideways to let Draco walk in.  
"It's better than nothing," Draco said, and Harry knew that was basically a thank you coming from him.  
"I'll let you get settled in, I guess." Harry said awkwardly. He turned away, and headed back downstairs. Kreacher was waiting by the bottom of the stairs.  
"Another guest?" Kreacher asked excitedly.  
"Yes, Draco will be staying with us for a while," Harry said quietly.  
"I shall prepare more food for him!" Kreacher practically squeaked he was so excited.  
"Thank you," Harry smiled, grateful for the elf's helpfulness.

Harry settled down into his armchair in the living room, and leaned back into the old pillows, breathing in the faint smell of dust. There were piles of books on the shelves in the room, and a small, weird clock above the fireplace.  
"So Potter, what is there to do around here?" Asked a voice, and Draco walked in, looking around.  
"Not much," Harry replied.  
"In that case, I'll probably go out for a while," Draco said. "Want to come?"  
"I don't leave the house," Harry said, laughing at himself slightly.  
"Maybe you should," Draco told him, "I'm going to Diagon Alley, do you want to come or not?"  
"I could do with some new stuff I guess," Harry sighed, "But, what if people see us together?"  
"It's not like we're doing anything weird," Draco scoffed. "I'm going, whether you come with me or not," he laughed.  
Harry sighed. It had been so long since he'd gone outside; perhaps he should. "Fine," he agreed eventually, "Let's go."  
"Good to hear," Draco smirked, and stalked out of the room, "Hurry up, I've already got my jacket ready."

Harry dashed out of the room and found Draco in the hallway, pulling a smart jacket over his already formal clothes.  
"Do you ever wear any normal clothes?" Harry asked as he pulled open the front door.  
"Sometimes," Draco said. He reached out a grabbed Harry's elbow.  
"What are you doing?" Harry asked curiously.  
"I'm assuming you're still not great at apparation," Draco rolled his eyes and then he apparated them to Diagon Alley.


	2. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco and Harry make a plan for the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a really short chapter I'm sorry!!

There weren't many people in the street, and Harry couldn't help being relieved by that. At least that was less people he'd have to deal with. As they walked quickly past the shops, he saw a few people glance at him excitedly, and then saw their expressions change instantly as they spotted Draco.  
"They're all glaring at me," Draco muttered, obviously having noticed this as well.  
"Pay them no attention," Harry said particularly loudly as he walked past one particular woman who was watching them curiously. The woman glanced at them one last time and then sighed and walked away.  
"Fine, what shopping do you need to do?" Draco asked, stopping outside one shop to peer into the window for a few seconds.  
"I don't really know. We need to get you some proper normal clothes though," Harry laughed.  
"If I'm buying better clothes then you are too," Draco said. "What's wrong with my clothes anyway?"  
"They're too posh!" Harry laughed, "You look way too formal all the time!"  
"Well what am I supposed to wear?"  
Harry laughed, "Jeans, shirts, normal people clothes."  
"I am normal," Draco said quietly looking down at his clothes.  
"Sure," Harry sighed, dragging him into a clothes shop, "Let's just look, okay?"  
"Fine," Draco said.

Harry walked straight over to a rack of jeans and held a pair out in Draco's direction.  
"No," Draco said, shaking his head, "Too tight."  
"Come on, that's no fun," Harry laughed, holding them out.  
"No," Draco repeated himself.  
"At least try them on!" Harry protested, "Come on, you persuaded me to leave the house, now I'm making you do this!"  
"Fine," Draco sighed, taking them from him and looking at them in disgust. Harry laughed as he watched Draco survey the jeans.  
"Have you seriously never worn clothes like that before?" Harry asked.  
"No I haven't," Draco said quietly.  
"Oh, well, I've never shopped for my own clothes before, so you have to help me now!" Harry told him.  
"You've never done this either?" Draco asked.  
"My aunt and uncle only ever gave me my cousin's old clothes. After Hogwarts, Hermione and Mrs Weasley gave me some clothes, and that's all I've had."  
"Well then we're going to find you some nice new clothes!" Draco declared, "And then both of us will have the things we never got as children!"

They looked through the racks of clothes for a while, daring each other to try on the most ridiculous outfits they could find. Harry laughed for ten whole minutes after Draco ended up wearing black skinny jeans and a horrible hawaiian shirt.  
"Okay Potter, this is enough," Draco sighed after a while.  
"Fine, let's buy these," Harry smiled,holding up the clothes they'd decided on, "Then we should get ice cream!"  
"Definitely," Draco agreed. They both walked up to the counter and paid for the few items of clothing that they'd decided on, and they headed back out into Diagon Alley. They walked quickly to the ice cream parlour and sat down on a small table in front of it with their ice cream.  
"So, I haven't seen you in a few weeks. How have you been?" Harry asked eventually.  
"Good, apart from all the stuff with my parents," Draco sighed.  
"I thought you were getting closer to your parents now," Harry pointed out.  
"Turns out they don't love me as much as they thought. I think my mother still does, but she's not sure what to think," Draco replied.  
"Do you, uh, want to talk about what happened with them?" Harry asked, "Obviously it must have been something pretty important that you told them."  
"I said no earlier," Draco replied coldly.  
"Okay, just asking," Harry said. "It's getting late, I guess we should head back and eat sometime soon."  
"Probably," Draco agreed, happy to change the subject. "Hey, thanks for letting me stay with you for a while."  
"No problem, it might be nice to have other people around the house for a while," Harry sighed, "Hermione and Ron are going to be mad that I'm spending more time with you than them though."  
"You really should try and talk to them more," Draco said, "They care about you a lot, I can tell."  
"I suppose you're right," Harry sighed as Draco grabbed his arm again, and they apparated back to the house.

"Thanks for today," Harry said as they walked into the kitchen, joking amongst themselves.  
"It's no problem," Draco smiled.  
"I really did need to get out of the house, didn't I?" Harry sighed, looking around and realising for the first time how dirty and gloomy the house was.  
"Yes," Draco replied, "I think you really did."  
Kreacher dashed up at that moment yelling, "Dinner is ready!" He then dashed away.  
"He's very loud," Draco laughed.  
"Yes, you get used to it," Harry scoffed.

Draco ate quickly, and Harry couldn't help but watch him curiously.  
"What?" Draco asked at one point as he caught Harry staring at him.  
"You eat like you've never eaten before," Harry told him.  
"Food at my family's house was always so posh, this is proper food," Draco said very quietly, before taking another quick bite of food. Harry waited until Draco wasn't looking at him, and then smiled slightly. He sat for a while thinking about something he'd thought of earlier whilst they were shopping.  
"You know what we were talking about earlier, how we'd never done certain things as children?" Harry asked eventually.  
"Yeah," Draco mumbled distractedly.  
"We should do it all!" Harry declared.  
"All of it?" Draco laughed, "I think you're underestimating the amount of things I missed out on in my childhood."  
"Doesn't matter how many things there are," Harry said, "We'll do it all."  
"Alright, what things did you miss out on?" Draco asked.  
"Having my own bedroom for a few years," Harry joked, "I suppose I did get one eventually though."  
"What do mean you didn't have a bedroom?" Draco said, his eyes widening in surprise as he leaned over the table towards Harry.  
"I lived in a cupboard under the stairs for most of my time there," Harry told him, "I thought you knew that."  
"Why would I know that? We never talked enough to share childhood stories," Draco reminded him.  
Harry sighed sadly, "Well, we're doing it now. What about you, what do you wish you'd had as a child?"  
"Parents that weren't death eaters," Draco offered with a sad smile.  
"Yeah, that would have made everything easier for you," Harry agreed.

They sat for a while in silence, until Draco eventually said, "Well, I suppose one thing I always wanted to do was to shop at muggle shops. I was always fascinated by them."  
"You, fascinated by muggles?" Harry raised in eyebrows in surprise.  
"I only said I hated them because my parents taught me to," Draco sighed. He prodded at the last of his food with a fork.  
"We should definitely go into some muggle shops then," Harry decided, "It would be a laugh."  
"Sure," Draco laughed, "Tomorrow?"  
"Sounds good to me," Harry agreed. They finished their food and left Kreacher eagerly cleaning up the kitchen.  
"I hate to be rude, but I'm exhausted," Draco said eventually, "Do you mind if I go to sleep?"  
"Of course not," Harry smiled, "I think I should probably get some sleep too."  
"Have you even been sleeping?" Draco asked, peering at him, "The circles under your eyes are pretty dark."  
"Rude," Harry retorted, "And no, not really."  
"You should try," Draco said, already heading for the stairs.  
"It's easier said than done!" Harry shouted after him.  
""It's easier to do if you try," Draco replied. Harry shook his head in amusement, wondering exactly how Draco knew that he didn't even bother trying to sleep properly anymore. After a few moments, he decided that it couldn't hurt to try sleeping, so headed up to the room he'd been sleeping in. He'd emptied that room as well. The walls were bare and the floorboards were dusty. He climbed into the bed and surprised himself by falling asleep almost instantly.

 

Harry was woken a few hours later by screaming. He sat up quickly in bed, his heart racing. He slid out of the bed and stumbled tiredly towards the door, rubbing his eyes to try and clear his vision. As the screaming continued, Harry raced down the hallway and panicked as he realised it was coming from Draco's room.  
"Draco?" He called, knocking heavily on the door as the screaming suddenly stopped. "Draco?"  
"I'm fine," Draco called back eventually, his voice strange and cracked, "Go back to sleep."  
"Are you sure you're okay?" Harry called back.  
"Yes, go to sleep!" Draco snapped.  
"Okay fine," Harry sighed. He stood anxiously outside the room for a while, and then quietly walked away, still worried about Draco. He crawled back into his bed and fell back asleep instantly.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry woke up the next morning and pulled on some of the new clothes he'd bought the day before. Then he wandered down the hall towards Draco's room, and knocked gently on the door.  
"Draco, are you awake?" he called softly.  
There was a few seconds of silence, and then a quiet voice said, "Yes."  
"Are you ready for breakfast?" Harry asked.  
"I'll be downstairs soon," Draco replied.  
"Okay, I'll meet you down there," Harry said, turning and walking back down the hall and down the stairs. When he reached the kitchen, Kreacher was laying plates onto the table. The house elf looked up and instantly dashed away, calling, "Breakfast is almost ready!"  
"Thank you Kreacher," Harry replied, sitting down. He already felt a lot better after a good night of sleep, but he couldn't help but be worried about Draco.

Just as Kreacher started piling food onto the table, Draco appeared in the doorway. Harry looked up, and noticed Draco hanging around, looking slightly embarrassed.  
"Hey, breakfast's ready," Harry told him.  
"Uh, yeah okay," Draco mumbled, wandering over and sitting down.  
"Are you sure you're okay?" Harry asked quietly.  
"It was nothing!" Draco snapped. "I just had a nightmare, okay?"  
"Oh, okay," Harry said, understanding and nodding to himself, "Well, nothing to be ashamed of."  
"Really?" Draco asked quietly.  
"Yes, I have nightmares all the time," Harry admitted.  
"Oh, my father always said nightmares were a weakness," Draco mumbled.  
"Well, most people aren't like your father," Harry said gently, "You don't have to be embarrassed of yourself here."  
"You know, you should let other people stay here," Draco smiled, "It's a nice place to get away from everything in the real world. It's like a little holiday."  
"I don't think I could cope with a lot of people in this house," Harry sighed, "It's nice just the two of us. It is nicer having you here though."  
"I'm glad you don't mind me being here," Draco laughed.

They ate breakfast quietly, talking occasionally about their plans for the day.  
"Do you have any muggle money?" Draco asked as they cleared their plates to the side for Kreacher to clean up.  
"Yes, I have some stored away somewhere," Harry replied, stacking some glasses up. They walked back upstairs together. "I'll go find a jacket," Harry said, stepping into his room.  
"Why haven't you decorated your room?" Draco asked as he peered inside.  
"Nothing to decorate it with," Harry shrugged, "Didn't need to anyway, I don't really care what the house looks like."  
"Well you should," Draco sighed, waving his wand a few times and clearing some of the dust, dirt and cobwebs away.  
"Oh, thanks," Harry smiled.  
"No problem," Draco laughed, stepping away and walking off to his own room to grab his things.

They met each other by the front door.  
"So where are we apparating to?" Draco asked.  
"This is your day of experiencing muggle life," Harry laughed, "We're not apparating."  
"What? How will we travel?" Draco asked.  
"Walking," Harry laughed, "The shops are only a couple of roads away."  
"It better not take long," Draco grumbled.  
Harry rolled his eyes and laughed, "It won't!" 

Draco moaned angrily and muttered under his breath the whole time they were walking. Eventually, Harry pulled Draco into a stationery shop.  
"What is this place?" Draco asked, looking around them.  
"I thought you might be interested to learn about pens," Harry laughed, picking up a pen and holding it out in Draco's direction.  
"What is this?" Draco asked, turning it over in his hands a few times.  
"It's like a quill, but you don't have to dip it in ink." Harry explained. He pulled a piece of paper from a shelf and gave it to Draco, "Try it!"  
Draco took the paper and clicked the end of the pen, before scribbling on the paper. His eyes widened in shock. "Why are we still using quills?"  
"I don't know. I think wizard's might be a bit behind when it comes to technology," Harry replied.  
"I have to buy a thousand of these!" Draco practically shouted, "I'm never using a quill again!" A few muggles spun around and looked at them.  
"Ssh," Harry hissed, "Yes, we'll buy you some."  
Draco grinned, looking down at the racks of pens. "How do you know which ones to choose?" Harry simply laughed at him and started to help him pick some out.

They left the shop half an hour later, with bags filled with stationery.  
"I still don't understand why we don't use these," Draco murmured, clicking a pen held in his hand.  
"You're driving me insane with that," Harry told him.  
"Oh well," Draco laughed.  
"Okay, let's find another shop to look in," Harry said.

They wandered through the shops four a while, until Draco started to get impatient.  
"How are muggles entertained by these?" he grumbled, staring at a rack of children's toys.  
"It's fun!" Harry told him.  
"Doesn't look fun," Draco muttered. Harry laughed and rolled his eyes.  
"Harry?" Shrieked a voice behind them suddenly. Harry spun around Ron and Hermione staring at him.  
"What the bloody hell are you doing with Malfoy?" Ron exclaimed. A few muggles spun around to stare at them.  
"Let's go outside," Harry sighed, "Come on Draco," he added as he strode towards the door. He heard Draco rush after him. 

Outside in the street, Harry turned around to face his friends.  
"Harry Potter! You don't answer our letters for weeks and then you turn up in a muggle shop with Malfoy?" Hermione fumed.  
"I thought you'd be happy that I was out of the house!" Harry replied.  
"We are" Hermione sighed, holding back one hand to keep Ron quiet. "I'm just a little confused as to what you're doing with Malfoy."  
"Draco is..." Harry paused, and glanced over at Draco, who nodded, "He's staying with me for a while."  
Hermione turned towards Ron, but she was too late to keep him quiet. "What?" he roared. "You won't even speak to your best friends but you have your enemy staying with you?"  
"Ronald, be quiet," Hermione hissed, "Why is Draco staying with you?" she asked politely.  
"That's my business Granger!" Draco blurted out.  
"He's our friend! We deserve to know what he's doing!" Ron shouted.  
Harry got more annoyed as he watched muggles peering at them curiously. "Let's go back to the house, okay?" he said, "We'll talk there."  
"Okay," Hermione said with a nod. Draco reached out instantly, grabbed Harry's arm, and in a second he had apparated them back to the house.

They appeared on the doorstep, followed instantly by Hermione and Ron.  
"Can't you even apparate by yourself?" Ron grumbled, glaring at Draco who was storing his wand away in his pocket.  
"He was just being helpful," Harry replied coolly, opening the front door. They all stepped inside, and Harry shut the door behind them. Kreacher rushed up, and Harry asked him to make drinks for them. "Come on" he sighed, leading them into the living room and settling on one sofa. Draco sat down on the furthest other edge of the same sofa as Harry, while Hermione and Ron settled themselves on the other one.  
"It's very dark in here Harry," Hermione pointed out, instantly reaching for her wand to cast some sort of spell.  
"It's fine!" Harry snapped, "Sorry," he added as she flinched back and Ron glared at him.  
"So, Harry, how long has Draco been here?" Hermione asked.  
"Since yesterday," Harry replied. "And he'll be staying for as long as he wants."  
"Why did you take him in?" Ron blurted out, "He could have gone somewhere else. Why the hell did he have to come here? He's got his posh little family to look after him."

Instantly Draco jumped to his feet and stormed out.  
"Ron, will you just shut up?" Harry cried, throwing up his hands in despair.  
"So you're spending all your time hanging out with Malfoy and you won't even give Ginny an explanation as to why you've suddenly started ignoring her?" Ron asked.  
"That's none of your business," Harry sighed.  
"She's my sister," Ron argued, "I'm just looking out for her!"  
"Be quiet!" Hermione snapped suddenly, "You two are so annoying. Ron, Harry obviously has his reasons for allowing Draco to stay with him, and we should trust and understand that. Harry, you need to understand why we're upset. You've ignored us for weeks and mostly we're worried about you."  
Harry sat for a moment in silence, thinking and then let out a small sigh. "Fine, I'm sorry."  
"Do you want us to leave?" Hermione asked quietly.  
"No," Harry decided. After all, it was nice to see them after so long, and he couldn't quite remember why he'd pushed them away so much in the first place. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"  
Ron scoffed under his breathing, and Hermione swung a hand in his direction. "We'd love to," she said with a small smile.  
"I'm going to go and find Draco." Harry told them. He stood up and walked out of the living room. Behind him, he heard both of them begin to whisper furiously.

Harry headed up the stairs and made his way along the hallway to Draco's room. He knocked softly on the door, and heard Draco mumble, "What?"  
"It's me, can I come in?" Harry asked.  
There was a long silence and then Draco finally said, "Fine."  
Harry pushed the door open slowly, and walked in. Draco was laying on his back on the bed. staring up at the ceiling.  
"I'm sorry about them," Harry sighed, standing around awkwardly by the door. "They're just trying to understand. I suppose they have a right to be angry."  
"It's okay," Draco replied quietly, "It's my fault for invading your house anyway."  
"You're not invading," Harry laughed, "I said you could stay here. It's my decision, not theirs." They both stayed silent for a while, and then Harry said, "The others are staying for dinner by the way."  
"I'll stay out of the way," Draco replied.  
"You don't have to," Harry told him, "Do whatever you want. This is your house at the moment, and you have the right to do whatever you want." He turned around and walked out slowly.  
He was just shutting the door behind him when Draco said quietly, "Thank you, Potter. You're very different to how my father always described you." Harry didn't reply, but just smiled slightly to himself as he walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Draco try to clean out Sirius's old bedroom. They discover some interesting things.

When he got back downstairs, Ron and Hermione were in the kitchen. Hermione was trying to hold a conversation with Kreacher, who was rushing around the kitchen, trying to put dinner together. Ron was sat at the table, staring straight ahead as if he was thinking about something.  
"So, how are you?" Harry asked eventually as he sat down opposite Ron.  
"Fine," Ron replied bluntly.  
Harry sighed, and looked over at Hermione, who was shaking her head at Ron in annoyance. "I'm sorry I haven't been over to see you recently," Harry said eventually, "I've been trying to deal with things."  
"You can't deal with everything alone," Hermione said gently, "We're always here for you Harry, you know that."  
"You have your own problems," Harry protested, "You shouldn't have to deal with mine too."  
"That's bloody ridiculous!" Ron exploded suddenly. Hermione and Harry turned towards him, and Hermione raised one eyebrow in question. "You won the war for us mate, the least we can do is listen to your problems."  
"It wasn't just me that won the war," Harry argued.  
Ron laughed darkly, "You were willing to sacrifice yourself, I don't think I could have that. You're a hero."  
"I'm not a hero," Harry snapped, dropping his head into his hands.  
"I think you are, Potter," Draco said quietly form the doorway, having appeared from nowhere. "Things would surely be a lot worse without everything you did." Hermione and Ron looked over at Draco in surprise.  
"Can we just stop talking about this," Harry groaned, running one hand through his hair.  
"Yes," Hermione said, "So, you've cleaned the house up a bit," she said, and Harry was grateful for her for changing the subject.  
"Yeah, well there were too many memories." Harry sighed. He glanced over at the empty chairs. The memories of the house were so strong, he could almost still see Sirius lounging in a chair during an order meeting, and Tonks changing her facial features to amuse the children. "The only room I haven't cleared is Sirius's."  
"We could always help with that, if you want," Hermione offered. Harry glanced up at her gratefully and nodded. He knew he'd have to do it eventually.

"Dinner, master," Kreacher croaked just then, rushing forward to set plates onto the table.  
"Thank you, Kreacher," Harry replied. He glanced up at Draco, who was still standing around in the doorway. "Are you joining us?"  
Draco stood in silence for a few seconds, and then nodded, "Yes." Harry smiled at him. Hermione stepped around the table and sat down next to Ron. Draco looked around uncomfortably, and then sat down next to Harry.  
"Thank you, Kreacher!" Hermione grinned as the house elf set a plate of food in front of her. Kreacher muttered something quietly and scurried away.  
"So, Malfoy, how are you?" Ron asked through a mouthful of food, earning him a disgusted glance from Hermione.  
Draco narrowed his eyes at Ron, before saying, "I'm okay, thank you, Weasley." Ron nodded to himself.

The rest of the meal passed quickly. Hermione attempted to make polite conversation with Draco, and Ron and Harry talked to each other for a while.  
"Thank you for letting us stay for dinner, Harry," Hermione said later as they were leaving the kitchen. "We have to go now though."  
"We do?" Ron asked.  
"Yes Ronald, because you're supposed to be helping your dad with his work tonight," Hermione reminded him.  
"What work?" Harry asked curiously.  
"Ever since the war, dad's been a bit distracted," Ron said quietly, "With Fred and everything, he couldn't concentrate on work. I've been helping him fill some paper work in and stuff like that so he can catch up."  
"I'd like to come over soon," Harry decided," If your parents don't mind."  
"Mum's been asking where you are constantly for the last few weeks," Ron laughed, "They'd all love to see you. We're all worried about you mate."  
"I'm fine, really," Harry said.  
"Sure you are," Ron sighed.  
I'll send a letter soon," Hermione promised, stepping forwards and pulling Harry into a hug, "Talk to us if you need help, okay?" she whispered.  
"I will," He promised.  
"Promise not to shut yourself away again?" she asked.  
"Promise," Harry replied. Hermione smiled happily, and then glanced over at Ron, who was struggling with the buttons of his coat.  
"Come on Ron, we've got to go," she said, reaching out and grabbing his arm. Harry heard both of them call out a goodbye seconds before they disapparated.

"Well, that went well," Draco said form behind him. Harry laughed softly.  
"Yes, I suppose it did," he agreed.  
"Doing anything this evening?" Draco asked.  
Harry thought for a bit about what Hermione had said before. "I think maybe I should look at some of the stuff in Sirius's room. Go through things, see if I can find anything interesting," Harry decided.  
"I could help, only if you want me to," Draco offered.  
"You know, that might actually be nice," Harry grinned.

A while later, they found themselves standing outside Sirius's bedroom. Harry ran one hand gently over the metal plate on the door, brushing dust off of the letters that spelled out Sirius's name in harsh block capitals. Draco stood patiently behind him, waiting as Harry gently put one hand on the handle and pushed the door open. Instantly, a cloud of dust billowed out, disturbed by the sudden movement of the door. Draco quietly coughed into his hand.   
"Come on then," Harry sighed eventually, and he stepped into the room. The room looked exactly the same as when Harry had last seen it. Long curtains were pulled tightly shut across the windows, blocking out most light, and a dusty chandelier hung form the ceiling. Thousands of pictures (most of them featuring muggle items) were stuck all across the walls. In a few places, the old, cracked wallpaper could be seen beneath the layers of pictures.  
"Your godfather knew how to decorate a room well," Draco said, peering at a patch of the wall covered entirely with Gryffindor colours, "He must have been very proud of his house."  
"I'm sure he was," Harry replied.  
"So, do you want to clear out anything from the room?" Draco asked.  
"I don't want to change anything, if possible," Harry told him, "I just want to see if there's anything interesting in here that I didn't find before."  
Draco nodded, and began to look around the room. Harry copied his actions, pacing around the room and peering at anything of interest. They searched in silence for a while. Harry found a small pile of muggle magazines hidden beneath a few old magic textbooks. Draco called Harry at point to look at a few old pieces of crumpled parchment. There were a few sketches of people there. The ink was faded considerably, but Harry could just about see that the people drawn were James, Remus and Peter.  
"Sirius could draw?" Harry muttered under his breath as he flicked through a few other sketches.  
"Potter!" Draco called suddenly, pulling Harry from his thoughts. Harry looked over, and spotted Draco, kneeling by the edge of the room. "The floorboard's loose here."  
Harry grinned to himself as he thought back to the times that he himself had hidden things under floorboards. He walked over quickly, ans knelt down besides Draco. Reaching out, he grasped the edge of the floorboards and pulled it up. The floorboard moved easily, showing that it had been pulled up many times before. As the floorboard moved, a fresh cloud of dust billowed upwards. When it cleared, Harry saw a box hidden there, and reached down to pull it up.

There was a lock on the front of the box, but it was open. Perhaps Sirius hadn't thought he had any reason to lock it, or maybe he just hadn't had time to lock it the last time he'd looked in that box. Harry pulled of the open lock, and flipped up the top of the box. Inside was a small notebook, what seemed to be a few photos, and a few other objects. Harry pulled out the notebook first, and flicked through it. Every page was filled with wiring, written in an elegant, slanted handwriting. He put it aside, deciding to read it later, and scooped up the photos. The first was a picture of the marauders. Harry breathed in sharply as he spotted his father's face, smiling up from the paper and laughing. In the corner, he could see Peter, smiling widely and grinning at something. On the other side, Remus and Sirius were leaning against each other and howling with laughter.   
"May I see?" Draco asked quietly. Harry looked over at him, eyes narrowed slightly, and then handed him the photo. "They look so happy," Draco said after a second, running his thumb over the surface of the photo.   
"Yes,they do," Harry agreed quietly. He held up the second photo, and smiled wider as he spotted his mother and father, grinning up at the camera. The other marauders had jumped into the background of the photo, and were pulling stupid faces. Again, he handed the photo to Draco without saying a word, before glancing down at the last two photos. He drew in another sharp breath as he saw what the last two showed. In the first, Remus was sitting close to the camera, looking off to the side, and Sirius was leaning down to kiss his cheek. In the second, the two were further from the camera, their arms wrapped around each other, too involved with kissing each other that they hadn't noticed James, leaning into the side of the photo to pull a face.   
Harry stared at the pictures numbly, too shocked to think properly. "I never knew they meant that much to each other," Harry said quietly after a while.  
"What?" Draco mumbled, still peering at the first two photos.  
Harry turned around and handed the last two photos to Draco with a heavy sigh. "I never knew," Harry said simply, shrugging slightly.  
"They were dating?" Draco asked, peering at the photos with an odd expression on his face.  
"I guess so," Harry replied. Draco handed the photos back to Harry, who dropped them back into the box neatly.

Harry peered back into the box, and pulled out the few random objects in there. They were seemingly pointless objects: an old, used quill; a sweet wrapper; a small white feather and a smooth grey pebble. Yet for some reason, Sirius had decided these were important enough to be kept. As he went through these objects, Harry noticed a thick black book, wedged at the bottom of the box. He hadn't noticed it before, and struggled to pull it out. Eventually, he freed it, and laid it out on the floor in front of him.  
"What is that?" Draco asked from behind him. Harry had almost completely forgotten Draco was there, and jumped as he heard him speak.  
"I don't know," Harry replied. He opened the book, and began to flick through the pages one by one. The pages were full of small things, taped in, and a few notes scribbled here and there. Photos were stuck to most pages. Most of them were just of Sirius and Remus, but the others appeared in the background occasionally.   
"Look at this," Harry said, gesturing for Draco to look. Draco moved over slightly, and Harry let him flick through the pages.  
"They look so... in love," Draco said slowly, staring at pictures.  
"Yeah, I guess they were," Harry replied. He looked back over at Draco, who had stopped and was staring at the book. "Are you okay?"   
"I'm fine," Draco mumbled. He stood up quickly. "I just need a second," he added, standing up quickly and stumbling towards the door. As he left, Harry thought saw Draco wipe one hand across his eyes quickly.

Harry watched him go, confused. He glanced back down at the open book. Sirius and Remus looked so happy and content.  
"We all deserve happiness," Harry sighed, almost feeling as if he was talking to his godfather. He glanced at the photos, and then stood up, and followed after Draco.  
He made it to Draco's room and knocked gently on the door. "Draco, are you okay?" He called.  
"Go away Potter!" Draco practically screamed.  
"Draco, please," Harry sighed. There was silence, and then the door swung open. Draco was stood there, his cheeks red and his eyes watery. "What's wrong?" he asked, "Did I do something?"  
"No," Draco replied quietly, turning and pacing towards the bed and dropping down onto it. "I killed them!" Draco shouted suddenly, "They could have been happy together again and I killed them all!"  
"It wasn't you," Harry told him, walking over and cautiously sitting on the very end of the bed. "It was Voldemort."  
"I helped," Draco protested.   
"Did you want to?" Harry asked.   
"Obviously not!" Draco snapped.  
"Then it's not your fault," Harry replied.  
"I guess," Draco sighed. 

They sat in silence for a while.  
"Do you think they'd have got back together if they hadn't died?" Draco asked eventually.  
"I don't know," Harry replied, "Tonks and Remus were so in love. They have a child! But, maybe things would have been different if Sirius was still alive. I don't really know."  
"I'm really sorry," Draco sighed, "For all the rubbish things I did. My father made me do it all. I don't think I can trust him again. Not after everything."  
Harry looked over at Draco, and watched as he wiped away a tear running down his cheek. "I thought things were okay with your parents."  
Draco shook his head, "Mother loves me, she always did. But, I don't want their love anymore. Not when they won't accept me for who I am."  
"What happened between you guys?" Harry asked, "Sorry, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."  
Draco sighed. "Maybe later," he sighed eventually.   
"I'm going downstairs then, I'll see you later," Harry said quietly. He stood up and walked out of the room, pulling the door shut gently behind him.

AN hour later, Harry was curled up in an armchair, flicking through an old spell book he'd found, when Draco wandered into the living room.  
"Hey," Draco said quietly, "I think I'm going to go to sleep now."   
"Okay," Harry replied, looking up from his book, "I'll see you in the morning."  
"See you in the morning," Draco echoed him, already trailing out of the room. Harry dropped down the book onto the coffee table, and decided he might as well go to bed as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I didn't really bother reading through this chapter before posting because I'd already spent like tow hours writing it and I'm super lazy. So there's a good chance it's full of spelling mistakes. Sorry if it is :)


	5. Chapter 5

When Harry walked back downstairs the next morning, Draco was already sat at the kitchen table, sipping coffee from a slightly chipped mug.  
"Morning," Harry said with a smile, sitting down opposite him.  
"Nice pyjamas Potter," Draco said with a grin.  
"Don't judge me," Harry replied, "It's early, I'm not getting dressed yet."  
Draco laughed. "Fair enough." Draco took a sip of coffee, before saying, "Potter, you've been really good to me."  
"It's nothing," Harry waved it off, not wanting to take compliments. Kreacher dashed over that moment and handed Harry a mug of coffee, which he took.  
"I just thought maybe you deserved to know why I was really here," Draco said quietly.  
Harry looked up from his coffee in surprise. "What do you mean?"  
"I guess you probably thought my parents kicked me out because of everything that happened during the war," Draco began.  
"Uh, yeah that's what I assumed," Harry replied.  
"It's not just that," Draco said, "I had to tell my parents something. I was sick of lying about who I was. Do you ever feel like that? Like you're sick of pretending to be someone you aren't?"  
"Yeah," Harry nodded, "But, what was it you told them?"  
Draco sighed, and took in a deep breath before eventually blurting out, "I'm gay, Potter!"  
Harry jumped back slightly in surprise. Out of everything he could have guessed, he would never have guessed that. "Really?" He asked after a while.  
"Yes, I'm not lying!" Draco exclaimed, throwing up his hands in despair.  
"Sorry, sorry, I know," Harry said quickly.  
"We'll talk about this more later, okay?" Draco said, standing up quickly, his chair scraping against the floor as he pushed it back.  
"Draco wait!" Harry called as Draco rushed towards the door.  
"I said later, Potter!" he snapped, and disappeared out of the door.

"Breakfast, master?" Kreacher croaked suddenly.  
"Not at the moment, Kreacher," Harry said. He stood up and rushed after Draco. "Draco please wait!" he called as he watched him disappear up the stairs. He followed Draco all the way upstairs, and reached Draco's room just as the door slammed shut. Not bothering waiting,he pushed the door back open again and walked in.  
"Potter get out!" Draco screamed, dropping down onto the bed and burying his face in the pillows..  
"What have I done?" Harry asked quietly.  
There was a moment of silence, and then Draco muttered, "I just don't like talking about it okay?"  
"I get it," Harry told him, "I don't like talking about things either. I don't really like thinking about things either."  
Draco laughed darkly. "I feel like an idiot. Here you are struggling with every awful thing you went through and I'm having a meltdown over being gay."  
"Don't feel stupid," Harry replied, moving and sitting down on the end of the bed, "Do, did your parents not like thta you were gay?"  
"Of course they didn't," Draco scoffed, "All they want from me is someone to carry on the family."  
"I'm sorry about that," Harry said, not really sure what to say.

They sat in silence for a minute.  
"When did you find out you were gay?" Harry asked.  
"I just knew," Draco said with a shrug. "Why do you want to know?"  
Harry sighed, "I was just asking."  
Draco looked over at him suspiciously. Harry rolled his eyes and then stood up. "Where are you going?" Draco asked.  
"Giving you some space I guess," Harry replied.  
"Wait," Draco called as Harry walked out. Harry spun back around to look at him. "Are you doing anything today?"  
"Uh, I guess I'm going to see the Weasley's," Harry said. "I should probably send them a letter actually," he mumbled to himself.  
"Oh, right," Draco said quietly, "You don't mind me just hanging round the house then?"  
"Sure, do whatever you want," Harry grinned, "I won't be gone for too long."  
Draco smiled back at him, "Okay, go see your friends."  
Harry laughed, "Yeah sure."

Half an hour later, Harry called goodbye to Draco, and then apparated to the Weasley's house. The second he appeared in the kitchen, he was tackled by Hermione.  
"Harry! I'm so happy you came!" She squealed.  
"Yeah, well, after seeing you yesterday I guessed it was a good idea," he smiled.  
"Harry," said a voice quietly. Harry stepped away from Hermione, and looked over to see Ginny smiling at him.  
"Hi," he said. He was just thinking of what to say when Molly and Arthur rushed in.  
"Harry, so good to see you dear," Mrs Weasley smiled, pulling him into a hug. "We've all missed you."  
"It's good to see you too," Harry told her. "Where's Ron?" he asked, looking around.  
"In the garden," Hermione said, "Gnomes," She added as an explanation.  
"I think I'll go and talk to him," Harry said, as he was already feeling slightly overwhelmed by everyone staring at him. He wandered out of the back door and into the garden.

Ron was sat on the floor, staring at the ground in front of him.  
"Working hard?" Harry laughed as he walked up to him and flopped down onto the ground next to him.  
Ron jumped a little, having not noticed Harry approaching. "Yeah, don't tell mum," he said, laying back on the grass and resting his head on the ground.  
"I won't'" Harry laughed.  
"Didn't bring Malfoy with you?" Ron asked.  
"No, he's at the house," Harry replied.  
"You must be bloody mad to let him stay with you," Ron said.  
Harry thought back to their conversation that morning and sighed. "HE's changed, trust me."  
"I'll believe that when I see it," Ron scoffed.  
Harry didn't see anything, and instead just lay back next to Ron and stared up at the sky.  
"Have you been up to see George yet?" Ron asked.  
"No, I didn't know he was here," Harry said, sitting up. "Do you think he'd mind if I went and talked to him?"  
"He'd appreciate it," Hermione said, having suddenly appeared behind them. "Ron, your mum sent me to check on you."  
"Tell her I've still got more gnomes to get rid of," Ron replied.  
"Have you done anything yet?" Hermione sighed with a shake of her head. "Harry, go inside and let Ron get back to his work."  
Harry laughed, "Alright, I'm going," he said.

Harry wandered back inside, not really looking forward to talking to the others. The Burrow looked exactly how he remembered it. Plates were piled up by the side of the kitchen sink. Molly was humming quietly as she whisked around the kitchen. But somehow, the place seemed quieter. Something in the atmosphere of the place seemed to be different. Harry made his way through the kitchen quickly, keeping his head down and trying not to make eye contact with Ginny.  
"Harry, not leaving already?" Molly asked.  
"Uh, Ron said maybe I should talk to George," he murmured.  
Mrs Weasley looked at him in surprise, and then smiled sadly, "I think he'd like that, dear."  
Harry smiled at her, and then made his way up the small staircases. Outside George's room, he knocked softly on the door.  
"Who is it?" Called a familiar voice from inside.  
"Oh, it's Harry," he called back.  
There was the sound of rustling and things moving inside the room, and then the door clicked open. "Harry, haven't seen you in a while," George said with a half-hearted grin.  
"Uh, yeah, I just came over to see everyone," Harry mumbled, scuffing the carpet with one foot awkwardly.  
"Well, it's good to see you," George said, "Well uh, you probably want to go and see everyone else now."  
"No, actually, I kind of wanted to talk to you," Harry replied.  
George looked up at him in surprise, "Oh, really?"  
"Yeah," Harry smiled.  
"I guess you can come in then," George said, stepping aside and letting Harry walk into his bedroom.

There was a huge empty space on one side of the room where Fred's things had once been. Harry felt his stomach twist as he looked at it.  
"So, what's up?" George side, sitting down on the edge of his bed and looking slightly uncomfortable.  
"I just haven't seen you in a while. Thought I'd see how you were doing," Harry explained.  
"I'm fine," George sighed, but his smile disappeared. "It's just hard," he admitted, "I know we all lost him and it affected the whole family. And I feel selfish, but I feel like I lost more than them. And they'll never understand that."  
"Have you talked to them about that?" Harry asked.  
"I can't!" George snapped, and then sighed sadly, "I don't want to upset them."  
"So you just stay in your room?" Harry asked.   
"I'm trying to get the shop back up and running," George sighed, "Ron said he'd help. But it just feels wrong without Fred."  
"I think Fred would have wanted you to," Harry said, "And hey, i gave you the money to start the shop, I want to see it in business again."  
George laughed softly at that, "Yeah, shouldn't put your money to waste I suppose."  
"I can always help, if you need any help I mean," Harry offered.  
George smiled sadly, "Thanks, maybe I should think about starting work again."  
"It'll be good for you," Harry told him.   
"I just don't understand why it had to be Fred," George sighed, and when he looked back up, Harry saw a tear fall down his face. "Just go, please," George muttered, "Thanks for talking to me I guess."  
Harry nodded in understand, and made his way back out of the room, "See you soon, George."

He rushed quickly down the stairs, trying desperately not to think about Fred. At the bottom of the stairs, he crashed straight into Ginny.  
"Harry, can we talk?" she asked, looking at him quite desperately.  
"Now?" Harry sighed, "I need to go soon."  
"Why?" she snapped, "Can't even talk to your girlfriend who you've ignored for months?"  
"Girlfriend?" Harry muttered, "I didn't know we were still..."  
"Oh right," she mumbled, cutting him off, "I see how it is."  
"No, I didn't mean it like that. I just assumed you'd have moved on," Harry sighed.  
"No," Ginny replied, "Of course I'd wait for you!"  
Harry sighed, and ran one hand through his hair in frustration. "Maybe you should find someone better," he sighed eventually, "I'm not exactly the best person fro you to date."  
"I don't want to move on!" Ginny shouted, stamping one foot slightly in anger, "It's always been you I wanted to date."  
They stood in silence for a few seconds, until Harry eventually snapped, "Well maybe we just don't work together."  
"What?" she cried, "After everything we've been through together?"  
"Gin, I have to go," Harry sighed.  
"Now? You have to go right now? You dump me and then you won't even talk to me about it? Go on, get out!" she was practically screaming at that point, and forcing him backwards towards the front door. 

There was the sound of heavy footsteps on the floor, and then Hermione and Ron appeared.  
"Mum said she heard shouting," Ron said, panting slightly as if the short run had tired him out.  
"What's going on?" Hermione asked curiously.  
"I need to go," Harry said.  
"After everything you just leave me like this?" Ginny asked, quieter that time. A tear ran down her face, and she shook her head angrily. "I thought you loved me."  
"I did," Harry replied, "I promise. But, times have changed. I'm not in the right place at the moment. I'm not good for you."  
"You don't get to decided what's right for me," Ginny muttered, but even so she turned away. "Bye Harry," she called sadly as she stalked out of the room.  
"What the bloody hell just happened?" Ron asked after a few seconds of awkward silence.  
"I didn't know Ginny thought were still dating," Harry sighed. There was the sound of running and then Ginny appeared again.  
"You're the most selfish person I've ever met!" She screamed, and then raced away up the stairs.  
"I've got to go," Harry mumbled again, reaching out and opening the front door.  
"Harry," Hermione called after him, "Wait!"  
"No, I shouldn't have come here," Harry sighed, stumbling out of the door, "I've caused too many problems."

The second he was out of the door, Harry grabbed his wand and disapparated. He appeared in the hallway of Grimmauld Place and managed to stumble into the wall with a thud. He realised that he'd hit the wall in the place where the portrait of Sirius's mother had once been, and he was grateful that he'd manged to get rid of that.  
"Potter?" called a voice, and Draco stepped out of the living room. "That was quick."  
"Uh, yeah," Harry mumbled, "I'm going upstairs."  
"Trouble with the Weasley's?" Draco asked, and he sounded genuinely interested rather than mocking.  
"Not all of them," Harry sighed.  
"Oh," Draco mumbled, "Hey, can we talk?"  
"Sure," Harry replied."What's up?"  
Draco rolled his eyes, "We should sit down. Honestly, you're so uncivilised Potter. Who has a conversation standing in a hallway?"  
"Okay!" Harry laughed, holding up his hands in surrender. He followed Draco into the living room and curled up in the armchair. Draco sat down on the sofa, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"So, about what I told you this morning," Draco started, "Can you maybe not tell anyone? Unless you've already told the Weasley's."  
"Of course I won't tell anyone, it's your secret to tell," Harry told him.  
"Thanks," Draco said with a grateful smile.  
"It's nothing," Harry replied, "It's what friends do."  
"We're friends?" Draco asked.  
"I mean, you are living with me. So i hope we're friends," Harry laughed softly.  
"Yeah I guess," Draco said with a nod. "So, if we're friends, are you going to tell me what happened at the Weasley's?"  
Harry sighed, "Fine, but let me get some coffee first."


	6. Chapter 6

"So then Ginny screamed at me to get out and it was just so embarrassing," Harry sighed a while later as he came to the end of the story.  
"I didn't think you two were still dating anyway," Draco said.  
"Neither did I!" Harry laughed, "I guess I just forgot to tell her." He sighed and said, "I do feel guilty, but I can't help if I don't love her anymore."  
"That's fair," Draco replied, "It wouldn't have been fair on either of you if you'd kept dating."  
"Exactly!" Harry cried, throwing his hands up in the air.  
"And you were saying you had a hard time with George as well," Draco sighed, "I'm really sorry he died, by the way."  
"I know you are," Harry said with a nod, "Looks like George isn't really coping with it very well."  
"I'm not surprised, it must be hard to lose a twin," Draco replied.  
"Yeah, I'm trying to convince him to get his shop open again. I think it would help him take his mind off of things," Harry explained.  
"You know, I had an idea, but you might not like it," Draco said, "Maybe George could come and stay here sometimes. It's helped me to get away from everything. Maybe it could help him too."  
"You know, that's not a bad idea," Harry replied with a shrug. "I don't know if he'd be up for it, but I could ask."  
"Maybe wait until the family are less angry at you though," Draco suggested with a dark laugh.  
Harry laughed as well, "Yeah, I really messed that up, huh?"  
"You really kind of did," Draco laughed.

"This house is so boring after being in it for so long," Harry sighed. "We should go out somewhere or something like that."  
"Dinner somewhere?" Draco suggested, before yawning and stretching.  
"Sure you can stay awake?" Harry laughed.  
"Yes," Draco nodded.  
"The Leaky Cauldron?" Harry suggested.  
"What, so we can spend the whole evening surrounded by your fans?" Draco scoffed.  
"Okay then, muggle restaurant?" Harry laughed.  
"I've never been to a muggle restaurant," Draco said, "What are they like?"  
"I don't really remember," Harry admitted, "It's not like my aunt and uncle ever took me out."  
"Oh," Draco murmured, "Well we should go and see then. Another one of those things we've never done and so we should try it."  
"Sure," Harry laughed, "Let me find my coat, and some muggle money I guess."

Ten minutes later, Draco went upstairs to find Harry laying with his head under his bed, peering at something.  
"Potter, what on earth are you doing?" He asked.  
"I have my box of muggle money under here somewhere," Harry explained.  
"Is that really the best hiding place you could find?" Draco laughed, sitting down on the bed and peering down at him.  
"Yes!" Harry cried, "Ah, here it is!" he called triumphantly, wriggling out from under the bed clutching a weird wooden box.  
"You are a strange man Potter," Draco scoffed.  
"Probably," Harry replied, sitting next to Draco and pulling open the lid with a creak. A burst of dust exploded out of the box.  
"Why is it so dusty, haven't you opened this really recently?" Draco asked.  
"Yeah," Harry answered, "There's just always dust in this house."  
"Yeah you're right about that," Draco sighed, "How do you live here?"  
"I could ask how you managed to live in your family's house," Harry replied.  
Draco laughed darkly. "Yeah, I'm not sure how I did manage to live there for so many years," he sighed.  
"Well this is getting sad again," Harry said, "Let's go get muggle food."  
"Is muggle food different to wizard food?" Draco asked curiously.  
"Nope, it's just cooked without magic," Harry explained.  
"Sounds good," Draco laughed.

Harry moved some of the muggle money into his wallet, pulled on his coat, and then they made their way downstairs.  
"Apparate?" Draco asked.  
"Yeah," Harry replied, and reached out to grab Draco's arm, "Ready?"  
Draco nodded, and then Harry apparated them away from the house. When they appeared, they were in a dark alley.  
"Where is this?" Draco mumbled.  
"Alley next to a muggle street," Harry explained.  
"It's disgusting in here," Draco grumbled, dusting off his robes.  
"Well we couldn't both just appear in the middle of the street, could we? The muggles would be concerned," Harry reminded him, "Now come on! I'm hungry!"  
"Fine," Draco sighed, and followed Harry out of the alley and into the street. As they walked back out, a group of muggles gave them a weird look. "What's their problem?" Draco scoffed.  
"They're probably not used to seeing people wander out of dark alleys," Harry said. Draco laughed out loud at that, causing even more muggles to turn and stare at them. "Come on," Harry sighed.

They eventually found a restaurant that wasn't too crowded and sat down at a table. Once they'd ordered food, they sat and stared to talk.  
"You know, I never really hated you when we were children," Draco said quietly.  
"Really?" Harry asked in surprise, "You sure acted like you did."  
"It was just the things my father said about you. It made me hated you," Draco sighed, "Actually, I... no, never mind," he trailed off, and Harry thought he saw Draco blushing slightly.  
"You what?" Harry asked, "Come on, you have to tell me."  
"No, Potter!" Draco snapped.  
"Please," Harry begged, "Friends tell each other secrets."  
"Not secrets like that." Draco said with a shake of his head.  
Harry narrowed his eyes jokingly, "You've concerned me now."  
"Haha," Draco scoffed, "Just forget it, please?"  
"Sure," Harry sighed, leaning back in his chair but still looking curious.

Soon, the food arrived. Draco ate slowly, surveying the food in interest.  
"Enjoying it?" Harry asked.  
"Yeah, it's actually nice food," Draco replied.  
"Can I ask a question?" Harry asked, "And I'm sorry if it sounds rude, and you don't have to answer."  
"Sure," Draco sighed.  
"Have you ever, you know, dated anyone?" Harry stammered.  
"Are you asking if I've had a boyfriend, Potter?" Draco asked with a sly grin.  
"Uh, sure," Harry said with a nod.  
"No, I haven't," Draco answered, "It doesn't matter anyway. My father wouldn't have allowed me to carry on dating them if he found out."  
"So you've never dated anyone because you were scared of your father?" Harry asked quietly.  
"I'm not scared of my father, Potter!" Draco snapped, and a few muggles spun around to stare at them.  
"Sorry, sorry, that's not what I was trying to say," Harry apologised quickly, "It just seems a little unfair that you didn't get to enjoy that part of your teenage years because of your father."  
"Doesn't matter to me," Draco shrugged, "I'm never going to find anyone anyway."  
"What?" Harry scoffed, "Of course you will. I mean... you're Draco Malfoy! Someone's bound to like you one day!"  
"That's exactly the reason why I'll never find anyone," Draco sighed, "Because I'm Draco Malfoy. The death eater. The one who got the death eaters into Hogwarts."  
"You are not a death eater!" Harry hissed, "You're a good person! I know it!"  
"If I was a good person, I wouldn't have done all those things I did," Draco replied.  
Harry let out a long sigh. "People can change, and I know you have."  
"Why do you trust me, Potter?" Draco asked, hanging his head sadly.  
Harry sat for a second, thinking about his answer. He didn't fully know, but he knew that he could trust Draco. "Because after everything I've seen and experienced," he said after a while, "I think I'm pretty good at telling the difference between good and bad people. You may have done some bad things, but it wasn't your fault, and I know you didn't want to do it all. You know what you did wrong, and that shows that you're a good person. Even if you don't believe it, I know it."

Draco sat for a second in stunned silence. "Wow, you really are good at speeches," he muttered eventually.  
"I just said what I was thinking, I guess," Harry replied with a shrug.  
"You know Potter, if there really are any good people in this world, you're definitely one of them," Draco said, with a shy smile.  
"So are you," Harry said firmly, "I need you to believe that."  
"Sure, whatever," Draco sighed. Harry knew that Draco wasn't fully confident, but he was pleased that Draco's attitude seemed to be changing slowly.  
"So, dessert?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.  
"Sure," Draco grinned.  
*************  
"You know," Harry said as they walked out of the restaurant later and wandered along the dark street, "I never thanked you for what you did for me."  
"What have I ever done to help you?" Draco scoffed.  
"In your house, when you didn't tell your father that it was me that had been captured," Harry reminded him, "You could have saved my life just by stalling them slightly."  
"It was nothing," Draco muttered under his breath.  
"Seriously, thank you," Harry said, "You really helped. But why did you do it?"  
"I knew you were the only person that had a chance at defeating Voldemort. And I wanted that to happen."  
"I suppose that makes sense," Harry replied, "But you were risking everything by doing that."  
"I just didn't want to see you get hurt, okay?" Draco snapped.  
"Really?" Harry was curious. "I thought you did it because you liked Hermione. But I guess now I know you're gay that makes less sense."  
Draco sighed and scuffed his feet on the pavement. "I did it to protect you. Because of the war obviously, not because I liked you or anything."  
"Yeah, I mean, we hated each other. Obviously it wasn't because you wanted to be my friend," Harry laughed.  
"Uh, yeah, sure," Draco mumbled.  
Harry nodded in understanding, "Well, we should apparate I guess."  
Draco rolled his eyes, "Sure," he said, and grabbed Harry's arm. Under his breath, so quietly that Harry didn't hear it, he muttered, "You're such an idiot Potter. Why do you never understand what I'm trying to tell you?"  
"Did you say something?" Harry asked.  
"Just saying I'm ready to go," Draco sighed.


	7. Chapter 7

Back in the house, Harry wandered instantly to the kitchen.  
"Want coffee or tea?" He called over his shoulder.  
"No thanks," Draco replied, "I think I'm just going to go to bed."  
Harry turned around and walked back towards Draco. "You okay?" He asked.  
"Yeah, just tired," Draco said, turning and stalking away up the stairs.

Harry turned away, shaking his head in confusion and headed into the kitchen.  
"Kreacher!" he called. The house elf bustled into the room.  
"Coffee please," Harry said, still distracted, "I'll be upstairs."  
"Of course," Kreacher croaked and dashed away.

As he wandered upstairs, Harry passed Draco in the hallway.  
"Where are you going?" Harry asked.  
"I could ask you the same thing, Potter," Draco replied.  
"I asked first," Harry shot back.  
Draco smirked and rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm going to write to my parents and tell them that I'm safe."  
"Why?" Harry asked.  
"I don't want mother to worry about me," Draco replied quietly.  
Harry nodded in understanding.  
"What about you?" Draco asked, "Where are you going?"  
"Sirius's room," Harry said, already starting to walk away. "See you later!" He heard Draco call goodbye behind him as he headed into Sirius's room. Seconds later, Kreacher bustled into the room holding a mug of coffee.  
"Ah, the blood traitor's room," Kreacher muttered, passing the mug to Harry.  
"Sirius wasn't a blood traitor!" Harry snapped, and the elf flinched back.  
"Sorry master," Kreacher murmured darkly. He turned and scampered out of the room.

Harry sat up on the old bed, hearing the ancient springs creak underneath his weight. He sat cross-legged and wrapped his hands tightly around the warm mug. He sat for a few minutes, looking around and taking in every little detail of the room.  
"Potter!" Called a voice from outside. Harry sighed, and thought it was weird that he wasn't angry at all about being disrupted by Draco.  
"Come in!" He called back. The door swung open, and Draco took a few steps in.  
"Potter do you have an owl?" Draco asked.  
"No," Harry replied, turning his head away. "I never brought a new one."  
"What happened to the last one?" Draco asked curiously.  
Harry glared at him for a second, and then sighed sadly. "She got hit in a fight with the death eaters."  
"Oh, I'm sorry," Draco said quietly. "I guess I'll send my post tomorrow." He stood for a second as if thinking about something, and then nodded to himself. "See you in the morning Potter, I'm getting some sleep."  
"See you in the morning," Harry echoed back.  
As Draco walked out, he reached over and picked up the notebook of Sirius's that he had found before. Inside, he found all sorts of things written down by Sirius (along with notes by the other marauders). He found himself sitting for hours, flicking through each page and reading about things. There were notes about days out Sirius had had, notes on pranks he'd pulled and a list of the best charms and hexes they'd found. Eventually, Harry fell asleep right there on Sirius's bed, the book still clutched to his chest.  
***********  
Harry woke up the next morning, and it took him a while to work out where he was. He stumbled tiredly out of Sirius's room to his own and got dressed quickly. When he walked downstairs, he found Draco sat at the table.  
"Why are you up so early?" Harry asked as he sat down opposite him.  
"Got to go out and post some letters this morning, remember?" Draco replied, wafting a few sheets of parchment in Harry's direction.  
"Oh yeah," Harry mumbled."Have you eaten?"  
"Kreacher made toast," Draco said with a nod. "Doing anything today?"  
"No," Harry replied. Draco nodded in understanding.  
"Well, I'm going to get going." Draco said eventually, "I'll see you later."  
"Oh, bye!" Harry called as Draco disapparated.

A while later, Harry wandered into the living room and pulled some parchment and a quill out of a drawer. He spread out on the floor and began to write. Over an hour later, Draco appeared back in house, and walked in to find Harry still scribbling away, covered in patches of ink.  
"What's happening? Finally had a breakdown?" Draco scoffed.  
"Ha, I had one of them years ago," Harry laughed. "I'm writing letters," he explained.  
"Why?" Draco asked, walking in and sitting down on the sofa.  
"Well apparently I'm really bad at talking to people. My thing with Ginny yesterday proved that. So I thought I'd write letters instead."  
"Sounds like a good plan," Draco said with a nod, "Actually, I have something to help with that" he added, "Wait there!" Harry watched curiously as Draco dashed out of the room. Moments later, he walked back in, holding a small cage with an owl in it.  
"What? Why?" Harry muttered as Draco dropped the cage down onto the table with a sly grin on his face.  
"Well you said you had no owl. So I bought one," Draco explained.  
"I don't need an owl," Harry replied, trying to wipe a spot of ink from his nose but instead just spreading it all across his face.  
"Okay. But I do," Draco laughed, "I send a lot of letters. It's just like a shared owl. And you're going to want a way to send all those letters you're writing, right?"  
"Fine," Harry sighed, "But you're in charge of looking after it."  
"Fine by me!" Draco grinned. He leaned down and opened the door of the cage. Instantly, the owl let out a shriek and swooped out of the cage.

The owl flew quickly out of the room, and Draco rushed after it. Harry laughed as he heard Draco calling to the bird to come back. He looked down at his pile of letters and sat up, stretching out his legs. Draco came back in and put the owl back into the cage.  
"That's a lot of letters," Draco stated.  
"Yeah, I guess," Harry agreed. "One's for Ginny to explain everything. Most of the others are just to try and get back into contact with others I haven't seen for ages."  
"Like who?" Draco asked.  
"Luna, Seamus, Dean and Neville," Harry said each name as he flicked through the pile of letters.  
"Potter your handwriting is horrible," Draco scoffed, looking down at the writing.  
"Shut up!" Harry said with a laugh.

Over the afternoon, Harry sent out the letters one by one. The owl was fast, and managed to deliver all of them by night fall. Harry was left with a pile of replies, none of which he had opened yet.  
"Potter, why aren't you reading them?" Draco asked as he handed an empty mug to Kreacher.  
"Just waiting," Harry replied.  
"For what?" Draco asked, "A special occasion?"  
"Very funny," Harry sighed. He scooped up the first envelope, and took a second to admire the heavy purple wax seal on it.  
"What's with the Q on the wax seal?" Draco asked.  
"It's from Luna," Harry said, "Q for the quibbler. I think it's her dads seal." He broke the seal with a snap and pulled out a small sheet of paper.

Dear Harry, it was so good to hear from you after so long. It's been a while since anyone wrote to me. I suppose everyone else is busy with things. That's just life I guess. I would love to visit you someday! Send me an owl to arrange it. By the way, I love the owl who delivered this. Is she yours? From Luna

The rest of the letters were similar.  
"Not much interesting," Harry sighed, dropping the letters back down.  
"Hey, I was wondering, how's your godson?" Draco asked.  
"You mean Teddy? He's fine. Or he was last time I saw him anyway," Harry replied.  
"When did you last see him?" Draco asked.  
Harry shrugged. "Couple of months ago, I guess. Tonk's mum is looking after him."  
"Don't you want to see him?" Draco asked.  
"Of course!" Harry replied, "But it's all just quite hard I guess."  
"I get it," Draco replied, "The war messed everything up."  
"Yeah," Harry agreed, "But I guess I'm glad. I mean... Life is much better for everyone now."  
"True. It was a good thing I suppose," Draco nodded.


	8. Chapter 8

Three days later, Luna arrived after having sent a letter the day before saying that she would be visiting. She knocked on the door in the middle of the morning, and Harry rushed to answer it.  
"Hi Luna," Harry grinned, and let out a small noise of surprise as she pulled him into a hug.  
"Hello Harry," she said in her usual tone of voice as she stepped past him, "It's very nice to see you again."  
"You too," he said. He pushed the front door shut behind him and lead her into the living room. "Actually Luna, there's someone else here," he said as she sat down.  
"Oh?" She said curiously. "Is it Draco?"  
Harry looked at her in surprise and asked, "How did you know?"  
"I don't know," she said, tilting her head to one side and looking at up Harry curiously, "It just seemed likely. Is he here?"  
"Uh, yeah, he's upstairs," Harry explained. "He might come down later."  
"I would like that," Luna replied.  
Harry smiled gratefully at her. "How are you, Luna?"  
"I'm good, Harry," She smiled back at him, "How are you?"  
"Okay," he replied, "Could be better," he admitted.  
"Of course," She agreed, "You know, Harry, you have less Wrackspurts than usual. Your brain seems more focused than usual."  
Harry laughed quietly, not sure how to reply to that. "Do you want a drink?" He asked eventually.  
"Tea, please," She replied.  
"I'll go and ask Kreacher." Harry said, "I'll be back in a second."  
"Okay," She replied pleasantly.

Harry wandered into the kitchen and found Kreacher busily cleaning dishes.  
"Kreacher, make some tea for everyone please. I'll call Draco down in a but I guess." Harry told the elf.  
"Of course!" The elf agreed and dashed over to the kettle instantly.  
Harry thanked Kreacher and then headed back out of the room. As he made it to the living room door, he spotted Draco creeping quietly down the stairs.  
"What are you doing?" Harry said with a laugh.  
"Oh, I was just going to get a drink," Draco replied quietly.  
"You don't have to hide from Luna," Harry whispered, "She already guessed that you're here."  
"How?" Draco asked.  
"No idea," Harry said with a shrug. "Come on, just talk to her. Kreacher's bringing tea anyway."  
"Fine," Draco sighed, and Harry led him into the living room.

"Hello Draco," Luna smiled as he walked in. "It's very good to see you again."  
"Is it?" Draco asked in surprise.  
"Of course," Luna replied, "I must say, you seem much more positive today than when I last saw you."  
"Yes, I suppose I am," Draco agreed, sitting down opposite her.  
"So, what brings you here Draco?" Luna asked.  
"I'm staying here for a while," Draco told her, "Although,I'll be looking for somewhere new to stay soon. I'm sure Harry is looking forward to having the house to himself again."  
Harry frowned at him, "That's not true. You're welcome here for as long as you want to stay."  
"Whatever," Draco waved it off.  
"Tea!" Kreacher called, walking in with three mugs of tea, placing them on the table.  
"Hi Kreacher!" Luna called with a wave. Kreacher looked at her in confusion.  
"Hello," he said, and then turned and scurried away.  
"He's nice," Luna stated as he left.  
"He's better than most house elves," Draco admitted. Harry smiled at both of them getting along.

The group sat for a while, talking quietly and drinking tea.  
"I'm going off travelling in a few days," Luna said after a while.  
"Oh yeah?" Harry asked, "Sounds fun."  
"Yes," Luna agreed, "My father and I are off hunting rare magical creatures so we can write about them in the quibbler."  
"What creatures?" Draco asked, leaning forward in interest.  
"Oh well, crumple horned snorkacks mostly," Luna replied, "They are very hard to find."  
"I've never heard of those. Are you sure they're real?" Draco asked. Harry instantly cast a panicked look in Draco's direction as Luna began to ramble about Snorkacks. Draco caught Harry's eye and they could both see each other trying to hold back laughter.  
"They sound really interesting Luna," Harry said eventually, and he saw Draco's shoulders start to shake with barely contained laughter.  
"Oh yes, they really are," Luna agreed, not even seeming to have noticed Draco's giggles. "Anyway Harry, I really should be going now, I have to pack for my travels."  
"Oh, okay," Harry replied, "I'll see you soon, right?"  
"Of course," Luna said with a smile. She stood up slowly and headed out of the room. Harry followed her out, and called out goodbye as she walked out.

"It was quite nice to see her I suppose," Draco said.  
"Yeah, she's a lovely person. People just don't bother getting to know her," Harry agreed.  
"Well, I'm going to go upstairs for a while," Draco decided.  
"I'll call you down for food later," Harry smiled at him.  
"Thanks," Draco grinned back at him, before heading upstairs. After he had left, Harry leaned back in his chair and smiled to himself. Somehow, he felt proud for the way Luna and Draco had gotten along, and he felt more hopeful that he could bring others together one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch out for some (kind of) Drarry scenes in the next chapter :)


	9. Chapter 9

After a few hours, Kreacher started to put food together and Harry headed upstairs to find Draco. Wandering along the hall, he noticed that Draco's bedroom door was half open, and stepped up to it. He instantly stepped back in shock as he spotted Draco, standing by the window of the bedroom. Draco was shirtless, and in the sunlight, Harry could see hundreds of bright white scars standing out against Draco's pale skin. Harry let out a loud gasp, and Draco instantly span around, his eyes wide with shock.  
"Get out!" Draco shouted, "I... uh, it's..." Draco tried desperately to explain himself and sound in control, but Harry had seen how scared he looked, and the tears filling his eyes. Harry knew he wasn't thinking clearly, but for some reason he crossed the reason in a few quick strides, and pulled Draco into a hug.  
"What are you doing, Potter?" Draco muttered, standing completely still and uncomfortably.  
"I'm sorry," Harry muttered, "I shouldn't have walked in."  
Draco let out a small murmur which Harry didn't hear properly, and then suddenly he relaxed, letting Harry hug him tighter. They stood there for a few moments, neither of them entirely sure what they were really doing.  
"What happened?" Harry asked quietly. Draco instantly wriggled out of Harry's grip and walked a few steps away. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that." Draco ignored him completely, and instead grabbed a shirt off of the bed and pulled it on. Harry found himself watching as Draco stretched up his arms to pull it on, and then he turned away, wondering exactly what he was thinking.  
"Don't you dare tell anyone about this!" Draco snapped suddenly spinning back around to face Harry.  
"Draco, you know I wouldn't," Harry replied quietly.  
"Father would kill me if anyone found out," Draco added. He sat down on the edge of the bed and buried his head in his hands. Harry sat down next to him, and cautiously placed one hand on Draco's shoulder.  
"Your father did that?" Harry asked. Draco instantly froze again, and Harry quickly assured him that he didn't have to tell him anything. 

"I've got my own scars, you know?" Harry said after a while.  
Draco laughed a little. "Of course you have. Everyone knows about your scar."  
"Not all of them," Harry replied, "There's one on my knee, from when Dudley pushed me over when we were young. There's one on the palm of my hand from where I burnt it on an iron once." Draco looked up from his hands in interest, seemingly taking in every word. "And there's these," Harry added hesitantly, turning over his hand and holding it out to Draco. The other boy took Harry's hand, and ran his thumb gently over the scars as he read the words carved there: I must not tell lies.  
"Umbridge did this, didn't she?" Draco asked, still clutching Harry's hand. When Harry nodded, anger flashed across Draco's face.  
"I can't believe I ever helped that bitch," he hissed under his breath, "If I could go back now, I promise I wouldn't... I promise..." he trailed off as his voice cracked.  
"I know," Harry said, "I know you would change things if you could."  
Draco took a deep breath, his shoulders shaking, and then let out a sad sigh. "Dinner?" He suggested eventually.  
Harry nodded, "Sounds like a good idea to me."

By the time they both got downstairs, Kreacher had laid food out on the table, and was watching them curiously.  
"Go and take a break for a while Kreacher," Harry said, and the elf obediently scuttled off. Draco, meanwhile, had settled himself down in his usual seats. Harry, instead of sitting opposite Draco like he usually did, instead sat down to Draco's left, feeling the need to be close to the other boy for some reason. He pulled his own plate towards him and began to eat silently.  
"It was my father," Draco said after a while, "He used to hurt me when I didn't do what he wanted."  
Harry took a deep breath to calm himself down, before asking, "Even when you were young?"  
Draco nodded sadly. "For years. I can't even remember a time when it wasn't happening to me."  
"I'm sorry," Harry sighed, "No one deserves that."  
"Maybe I did," Draco replied quietly.  
"I know you might believe that now," Harry said, "But I hope one day you'll realise you didn't deserve everything, and you really are a good person."  
Draco smiled shyly, and then turned his head away. Peering at him, Harry thought he saw Draco blushing slightly. They finished their food quietly, and the Draco stood up as if to leave. "Draco," Harry called, "Are you going upstairs?"  
"I guess," Draco shrugged. "Why, did you want to do something else?"  
"Actually, the Weird Sisters are doing a live set on the radio tonight. I thought maybe you wanted to listen with me," Harry suggested shyly.  
Draco grinned, "Sure."

Together, they wandered into the living room, and both sat down on the sofa. Harry waved his wand vaguely in the direction of his small radio and a song began. He saw Draco glance over at it curiously, his face looking as though he was concentrating deeply on the music. As he listened, Harry found himself staring down at the scars on his hand. They had been there for so long that he often forgotten they were there, but his conversation with Draco had reminded him about them.  
"I'm really sorry," Draco said quietly as the song came to an end. Harry was just about to ask what he was talking about when he felt Draco pick up his hand gently. He looked over in confusion and Draco brushed his thumb gently over the scars there. "You never did anything to deserve all this." Draco looked up at Harry nervously, as if unsure of his next actions, and then raised Harry's hands closer to his face. Harry smiled softly as Draco moved his head forward slightly and pressed his lips gently against Harry's scars.  
"What are you doing?" Harry murmured quietly as Draco sat back up again.  
Draco blushed heavily, "I'm sorry. That was weird."  
"It's fine," Harry told him, trying to calm Draco down as it was obvious that the slytherin was panicking slightly. Draco turned away and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Oh, this is a good song," Harry said as another one started to play.  
Draco rested his head against the back of the sofa and closed his eyes. A few moments later, Harry saw Draco started to move his head slightly in time to the music.

A few songs later, the music set ended. Harry looked over to Draco, and noticed that he was asleep. Harry gently leant over him and shook his shoulder slightly.  
"Draco," he called softly. Draco sat up in alarm, fear flashing through his eyes. "It's just me," Harry muttered, placing one hand on Draco's shoulder. Draco relaxed slightly. "I think you need some sleep," Harry laughed quietly.  
"Yeah," Draco agreed. He stood up, having to grab onto Harry's shoulder to steady himself.  
"Let's go to bed," Harry laughed, silencing the radio with his wand and then following Draco upstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter because I was just excited to write this I'll be honest.


	10. Chapter 10

When Harry walked into the kitchen the next morning, he could hear loud humming, and spotted Draco peering out of the window into the back garden.  
"Nice humming," Harry laughed, and saw Draco jump at his sudden appearance. "What are you looking at?"  
"The back garden is so messy," Draco replied softly, "It could be so nice if you cleared it."  
"I know nothing about gardening," Harry admitted.  
"I do," Draco replied, "Mother loves gardening. She always let me help her when I was young. Those are some good memories," he sighed wistfully.  
"Well, if you want to tackle the garden then go ahead," Harry laughed, "It sure isn't going to be me that does it."  
"Huh," Draco muttered to himself, "Maybe I will."  
"That could be nice," Harry said, "Maybe a nice garden could brighten the place up."  
Draco nodded to himself, and scooped up his half full mug of coffee.  
"How long have you been awake?" Harry asked, as he grabbed some toast that Kreacher had just produced from nowhere.  
"An hour, maybe more," Draco replied with a shrug, before taking a sip. "I feel like I need to do something productive today. Maybe I'll start looking at the garden or something."  
"Why are you so keen to do things?" Harry asked.  
Draco shrugged again and replied, "I don't like not doing anything. At my parent's house there was always something to be done."  
"Well, the garden's all yours," Harry laughed, peering through the window at the large garden, which was currently full of brambles and nettles. Draco grinned happily, and wandered away, humming to himself again. Harry took a bite of toast, watching Draco smiling. He was surprised to see Draco so happy for once.

"I'm going to have a look at the garden," Draco said after a while, "See you later."  
"Have fun!" Harry called after him with a grin. He settled himself down at the table and started to write out a long letter to George. Things Draco had said before had made him think, and he wondered if George would want to stay with them for a while. Sometimes getting away from things was good at clearing the mind, and Harry thought that George might need some time away to think things over. Without Harry even realising, an hour had passed, and Draco was wandering back inside. Harry looked up and chuckled softly as he spotted a stray swear of dirt across Draco's cheek.  
"So, how's the garden?" Harry asked.  
"Come and see," Draco grinned. Harry stood up, and wandered away towards the back door. Draco suddenly appeared behind him and wrapped his hands over Harry's eyes. "Keep walking," Draco said, and guided Harry froward through the door. After a second, Draco stopped, and took his hands away.  
"Wow," Harry murmured as he looked at the garden. All of the nettles were gone, cleared away with spells, and replaced by short grass.  
"I still need to plant some flowers, and maybe a tree or two at the end of the garden," Draco said, "What do you think?"  
"It's amazing, Draco!" Harry exclaimed. "You've made it look so good already!"  
Draco grinned shyly, and turned away. Harry followed after him, still telling him how amazing the garden looked.  
"So, I wrote to George," Harry said as they walked back into the kitchen. "Seeing if he wants to come stay with us."  
"Us?" Draco asked, "It's your house, and I guess I'll be leaving soon."  
"You will?" Harry asked in surprise.  
"We've had this conversation so many times," Draco sighed, "I can't stay here forever."  
"Maybe not," Harry said with a shrug, "But you can definitely stay here longer."  
"You sure?" Draco asked.  
"Draco, you will always be welcome here," Harry said, spinning around to look Draco straight in the eyes, "I promise that."  
"Thank you," Draco sighed, blushing slightly, "I'll stop saying I'm leaving then."  
"You'd better," Harry laughed, "You're the only person I really talk to at the moment." Draco laughed as he followed Harry through to the living room.  
*************  
The day passed quickly. Draco wrote letters to a few people, telling them he was safe but never telling anyone exactly where he was. Harry and Draco sat for a while discussing the garden. Draco was in favour of building a pond. Harry had spent so much time working in the garden at Privet Drive, yet he knew nothing about gardens, so he let Draco do the planning.  
"It's very fun to watch the muggles from this window," Draco said after a while, peering out through the curtains. "There are so many dogs."  
Harry stood up and joined Draco by the window. As he watched, a muggle rushed by, being pulled along by an overly enthusiastic black dog. "Looks like Sirius," Harry muttered sadly.  
"Your godfather looked like a dog?" Draco laughed.  
"He could turn into one," Harry replied, and enjoyed the shock that flashed through Draco's eyes.  
They stood in silence for a while, and then Draco asked, "Why is this house so hot today?"  
"Kreacher's probably been messing with the heating," Harry replied, he pulled out his wand and waved it a couple of times. A few moments later, the house was considerably cooler. "You could just not wear long sleeved shirts all of the time," Harry suggested.  
"You are joking, right?" Draco laughed, "You know that's not possible."  
"Why not?" Harry asked.  
Draco rolled his eyes. "You are so dumb Potter," he sighed, and then pulled up his shirt sleeve, turning his arm around to show the dark mark still visible on his skin.  
"Oh yeah," Harry muttered, not sure what to say. "Do you think it'll ever go?"  
"I did some research into this sort of magic, apparently it should fade now that Voldemort's dead, but it could take years," Draco replied, shaking his sleeve back down.  
"Well you can't hide it for all that time," Harry said, "Be proud of who you are, and the changes you've made."  
"I did show it in public once. You should have seen the looks I got," Draco sighed, shaking his head sadly, "I kept hearing people say that I should be in Azkaban, and one kid ran away from me. I felt like a freak."  
"You are definitely not a freak," Harry told him.  
"Whatever Potter," Draco laughed, but Harry saw the small smile flicker across his face. "I'm going upstairs for a bit."

They had dinner late that night. Afterwards, Harry was tired, and wandered upstairs to rest, leaving Draco alone in the living room reading. He sat down on his bed and pulled a pile of books towards him, intending to do some things he'd be planning to do for a while. Instead, he fell asleep within seconds. That night, Harry was woken again by Draco screaming. Despite how reluctant Draco always was to talk about his nightmares, Harry rushed towards Draco's room as quickly as possible.   
"Draco!" Harry called, "I'm coming in, okay?" There was no reply, so Harry pushed the door open. When Harry walked in, Draco was sat up in bed. Even in the dim light, Harry could see tears streaming down his cheeks. Not thinking too much about what he was doing, he rushed across the room and carefully sat down on the edge of the bed. "Nightmare?" He asked gently.  
Draco nodded weakly, but said nothing. There were a few moments of silence, and then Draco suddenly let out a loud sob, his whole body seeming to crumple forwards as he did. Wordlessly, Harry shifted sideways and Draco instantly leaned into Harry's side.  
"Talking helps," Harry said quietly.  
"No," Draco said, shaking his head hard.  
"Okay, not about the dream then," Harry agreed, "We can talk about something else if you want."  
Draco looked up through his blonde hair, blinking away tears (it was adorable really, but Harry would never admit that). "Like what?" Draco asked.  
"Oh, ummm..." Harry looked around, trying to find a conversation subject. "What about the garden?" He asked eventually, "You said about putting in trees. What sort?"   
Draco seemed to laugh a little at that, as if he thought it was a stupid conversation choice, but he smiled gratefully anyway. "I don't know," he replied, "Maybe a willow, I like them."  
"That sounds good," Harry said with a nod, "You're pretty good at this gardening stuff."  
"I just like it," Draco said with a shrug, before letting out a loud yawn.  
"Get some sleep," Harry told him.  
Draco moved away from Harry slightly, and laid back down. "Thanks Potter," he said quietly.  
Harry smiled at him and stood up off of the bed. "See you in the morning," Harry moved away and headed back towards his room. Behind him, Draco snuggled back down into his bed and tried to get to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I don't really know what this chapter was but there's better content coming in the next one. Thanks for reading!!


	11. Chapter 11

Harry was woken up by someone shaking his shoulder. He looked up to see Draco standing there smiling shyly.  
"You okay?" Harry asked with a yawn.  
"I brought you coffee," Draco explained, holding out a mug in Harry's direction.  
"Thanks," Harry said. He reached out and took the mug, before asking, "what's this for?"  
"Just to say thank you. You know, for last night. And just for being nice in general," Draco replied shyly.  
"Thanks," Harry grinned, before taking a sip of coffee. Draco smiled again and then quietly walked out. Harry watched him go curiously, and then stood up and followed after him.

"What, Potter?" Draco asked as Harry followed him out.  
"You're being weird," Harry replied.  
"No I'm not," Draco said, "I think Kreacher's making breakfast," He added, already walking away down the stairs. Harry followed after him with a shrug. Sure enough, when he got downstairs there was food laid out on the table. Harry sat down, and watched curiously as Draco sat down opposite him. Draco seemed to not want to make eye contact with him, and was picking at his food awkwardly.  
"Draco, how can you be so embarrassed? We've been living with each other for a while, you don't have to be embarrassed about nightmares," Harry said eventually.  
Draco sighed, "You don't understand though. In my family, it's not a good idea to show signs of awkwardness."  
"This isn't your family," Harry pointed out, "Here, you can be yourself."  
Draco grinned gratefully. "Well, then thank you,"

The owl swooped in at that moment, and dropped a letter onto the table.  
"For you," Draco said, sliding the letter across the table towards him. Harry scooped it up, and opened it.  
"Oh, it's from George, he's going to come over later," Harry said as he read it.  
"Does he know I'm here?" Draco asked quietly.  
"I don't know," Harry replied, "I haven't told him, but Ron might have."  
Draco nodded to himself in understanding, before asking, "So, is he staying here for a while?"  
Harry shrugged, "I don't know, I guess we'll find out."

A few hours later, George arrived.  
"Hi," Harry grinned as he pulled the front door open, "Come on in."  
George followed him into the house, pushing the door shut behind him. "Is, uh, is Malfoy still here?" George asked as Harry led him into the house.  
"Oh, Ron told you about that?" Harry asked quietly, "Yeah, he's living here for the moment."  
"Why?" George asked, "I know he's not a death eater anymore, but he's still super evil."  
"He's really not," Harry told him, "Actually, he's in the kitchen. Come say hello to him. He's changed, I promise."  
George sighed and nodded in acceptance, "Fine."

They wandered into the kitchen, where Draco was sat at the table, scribbling something down onto a roll of parchment.  
"Draco, George wants to say hello," Harry said as they walked in. Draco looked up and offered them a small smile.  
"Hi, George," he said after a second, "its...uh, nice to see you."  
George nodded in reply, "Hi."  
"How's the shop?" Draco asked, putting the lid onto his pot of ink and putting his quill down.  
"Not open at the moment," George replied.  
"That's a shame" Draco said, "I think your shop brought a lot of happiness to people, even when times were really dark."  
That made George smile a little. "Never saw you in there, Draco," he joked.  
"Yes, well, the Malfoy family would never be seen in a place like that," Draco scoffed, "Or that's what my father said anyway."  
"Well if I open it back up again I expect to see you in there," George grinned.  
Harry glanced over at the two of them and smile d to see Draco looking so comfortable and happy.

"So, Harry," George said after a while, "You said something about letting me stay here for a while."  
"Yeah," Harry replied, "I thought maybe it would be good to help you get away from things for a while. It might give you some time to start planning opening the shop up again."  
George thought about it for a second. "You know, that's not a bad plan," he said after a while, "So, you're opening this place up like some hotel now?"  
"Nah," Harry laughed, "More like a place for people to stay when they need some space."  
George nodded to himself. "That's a good idea," he said, "I'll go back to the burrow tonight, but maybe I'll move in tomorrow. If that's okay with you, obviously."  
"That's fine," Harry grinned. "Will you stay for lunch?"  
"Sure," George smiled.  
***********  
George left early that afternoon, leaving Harry alone in the kitchen. Draco had wandered off an hour before, and Harry hadn't seen him since. Wondering where the other boy had gone, Harry stood up and walked out into the hallway. As he passed the living room, he heard a very soft murmuring noise, and peered in. Draco was curled up on the sofa, asleep. As Harry watched, he saw Draco twitch a few times, and then let out a small whimper.  
"Draco?" Harry called out softly, stepping into the room. He assumed Draco was having a nightmare, and wandered over to his side. Carefully, Harry shook Draco's shoulder. Draco woke up almost instantly, and sat up. "You okay?" Harry asked.  
Draco nodded, and then rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Has George gone?"  
"Yeah, he just left," Harry told him, "Why are you so tired?"  
Draco shrugged, before letting out a yawn.  
"We'll have early dinner tonight, then you can get some sleep," Harry said.  
"Thanks," Draco smiled, "Probably won't sleep anyway."  
"Your nightmares are quite bad at the moment, right?" Harry asked, "Any reason why?"  
"No," Draco said, "They just are sometimes."  
"Come on, let's get dinner," Harry smiled.


	12. Chapter 12

At around midnight, Harry was woken by a soft knocking on his door. He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly.  
"What?" He called out.  
"It's me," came Draco's very quiet reply. "Can I come in?"  
"Sure," Harry said in slight confusion. He watched as the door was very slowly pushed open, and then Draco wandered in, looking very tired. "You okay?" He asked.  
"Nightmare," Draco explained, his voice shaking, "Worse than normal," and then he burst into tears. Alarmed, Harry jumped up out of bed and rushed over to the other boy. Before Draco could say anything, he pulled Draco into a hug. "I keep seeing their faces," Draco sobbed.  
"Who's?" Harry asked.  
"The people they killed in my house," Draco said quietly, "I can still hear them screaming, every time I close my eyes."  
Without really thinking, Harry hugged Draco tighter, and began to rub Draco's back with one hand. "It's okay, it's okay," he murmured gently.  
"It's not okay," Draco sobbed, "It's not okay! Those people died. Those innocent people."  
"Come on," Harry said gently, slowly letting go of Draco. He put one hand on Draco's and sat him down on the bed, before sitting down by his side. "You're not sleeping properly at all, are you?" Harry asked.  
Draco shook his head. Draco let out a few, deep shaky breaths, until he had calmed himself down slightly. "It didn't used to be every night, but now they're constant," Draco explained, "I can't sleep anymore."  
Harry sat in silence for a few seconds, watching the other boy in concern. Finally, he came to a decision. "Do you, maybe... want to stay here tonight?" Harry asked.  
Draco looked up at him in surprise. When he realised Harry wasn't joking, a sad smile flickered on his face. "Okay," he said eventually, "thank you."  
Harry grinned, and moved to sit at the back of the bed, leaning back to rest his head on the pillows. Draco laid back next to him, and after a few seconds moved his head slightly so it was resting against Harry's shoulder. It took a while for both of them to feel comfortable with the situation, but eventually Harry felt his eyelids start to flicker, and he let his eyes slide closed. Aware that he was about to fall asleep, he whispered, "Wake me up if you need me." He heard Draco murmur something inaudible, just before he fell asleep.

When Harry woke up, Draco was awake, and sitting up, staring straight ahead and seemingly thinking about something important.  
"What are you thinking about?" Harry asked after a second. Draco jumped slightly, having not noticed that Harry was awake.  
"I think I need to tell you something," Draco sighed.  
Harry could tell from Draco's voice that whatever he wanted to say, it was something serious. "What is it?" He asked quietly.  
"I... I..." Draco trailed off, "No, nothing."  
"Draco, come on," Harry sighed, "You can tell me."  
Draco sat for a few seconds, saying nothing, presumably trying to work out what to do. "I like you, Potter!" He snapped eventually, and then glanced away, blushing.  
"You like me? As in...?" Harry ran a hand through his hair in frustration, knowing exactly what Draco meant but not truly knowing what to think.  
"Yes!" Draco replied, "And I couldn't keep pretending not to. it's been so hard, staying here with you and you being so nice, and I couldn't keep my feelings under control and..." he let out a sad sigh. "I'm sorry," he muttered. Before Harry could stop him, Draco had jumped to his feet and dashed out of the room.

Harry dropped backwards onto his bed, thinking things through. He had never thought about Draco in that way before. Or had he? Suddenly Harry was thinking about times when he'd found himself watching Draco in strange ways. He knew for the last few days he'd been trying to ignore the way Draco's hair shone in the sunlight, or how Draco's whole face lit up when he smiled. But until then he hadn't thought about it at all. Harry stood up and headed for the door. He had to talk to Draco.

He found Draco in the hallway, fully dressed and pulling on his shoes.  
"Where are you going?" He asked. Draco looked up in surprise.  
"Out," he said quickly, struggling to tie his shoe laces up with shaking hands.  
"Wait," Harry called, "Can we talk, please?"  
Draco dropped his shoe laces, and looked up at him sadly. "Please, don't make me do this. I've said too much already." He finished tying his shoes and stumbled to his feet, rushing quickly towards the door.   
"Wait!" Harry called, rushing after him. He watched in dismay as Draco dashed for the door and pulled it open.   
"Draco!" Harry practically screamed, and Draco spun around, pure terror flashing across his face. "Hey, I'm not angry," he told him gently, "I'm sorry for shouting. Please just let me talk to you."  
"I shouldn't have said anything," Draco muttered under his breath, shaking his head and sending a few tears flying from his face.  
"It's okay to have feelings," Harry assured him, "I'm not upset or angry."  
"Can you just never mention this again please?" Draco asked, his face flushing red. He looked up at Harry, tears now pouring down his face. "If anyone found out..." he trailed off, "If my father heard about it..." he tried again, and that time his voice cracked.  
"You don't have to worry about your father," Harry said. He watched as Draco balled up his hands into fists angrily. Quickly, he reached out and grabbed Draco's hands to try and calm him down. "You're safe here," Harry added. As he watched Draco blink sadly, he reached out in a moment of bravery to gently grab Draco's chin and turn his face upwards. "Look at me," Harry said softly, "You're safe here. Trust me."

Draco twisted away and cleared his throat awkwardly.  
"Thank you for telling me," Harry said. Draco looked up at him in confusion. "I mean it, I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me."  
Draco laughed. "I wouldn't exactly call it comfortable." His eyes sparkled slightly as he laughed, and Harry felt a fluttering in his stomach as he looked at Draco.  
The two stood there for a while, standing slightly too close together and watching each other curiously. Eventually, Harry reached out and grabbed on to one of Draco's hands, running his thumb over Draco's knuckles gently. Draco looked up in confusion, opening his mouth slightly as if to ask a question.  
"Everything's going to be okay," Harry told him before he could ask anything. Another tear dropped down Draco's face, and Harry reach out to brush it away. As he leaned closer to Draco, the slytherin raised his face slightly and then suddenly pressed his lips against Harry's.

After a second, Harry stepped back in surprise.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Draco cried, stepping away in alarm, his eyes wide.  
"No it's..." Harry went to speak, but before he could finish Draco had disapparated, leaving Harry alone in the hallway.

Harry wandered away to the kitchen and sat down at the table. His mind was racing with a thousand thoughts that he had never thought about Draco before. He dropped his face down onto the table and let out a deep sigh.  
"I'm not gay," he muttered under his breath.  
"I know,"said a voice, and he looked up to see Draco behind him.  
"Where did you come from?" Harry cried in surprise with a small laugh.  
"I decided I need to stop running away from my problems," Draco explained quietly.  
"I think that's a good plan," Harry said with a nod.  
"So, you're not gay, huh?" Draco asked quietly, pulling out the chair next to Harry's and sitting down.  
"No," Harry said with a shake of his head. Draco let out a small sigh and glanced down in surprise. "But... I don't know. Something about you makes me feel different."  
Draco looked up in surprise, a small,hopeful smile flickering on his face. "There is such a thing as bisexuality," Draco told him with a grin. "Is that something you've ever thought about.  
"I don't know," Harry murmured. He stopped for a second to think. "I guess I've never given myself the chance to thinks about boys."  
"You didn't have the chance to think about much besides the war, did you?" Draco asked.  
Harry shook his head sadly.  
"Then I guess we're both getting a chance to do that now," Draco smiled. "Fancy going for a walk?" Draco asked suddenly, "I know somewhere nice."  
Harry grinned, "Yeah, that sounds good. I think we need to talk about some things."  
Draco laughed softly, "Yeah, I think we do."


	13. Chapter 13

Draco reached out and grabbed Harry's hand, and apparated them away. They appeared in a beautiful forest area.  
"Where is this place?" Harry asked curiously, looking around.  
"My mother used to bring me here when I was very young," Draco replied. "Hardly anyone comes here, so it always felt like my own secret place."  
"It's beautiful," Harry told him. "i can imagine a little baby Draco running around in here."  
"I used to pretend I lived here, and could stay here forever," Draco admitted, "I never wanted to go home."  
"I bet you were really cute as a kid," Harry told him as Draco began to walk forward, and Harry followed after him.  
"I was pretty adorable," Draco laughed.

They headed further into the trees.  
"So, uh... how long have you... you know.. liked me for?" Harry asked awkwardly.  
"Feels like forever," Draco replied, "I think that's why I let myself hate you. I didn't understand my feelings for you, and so when my father told me you had to die, I just went along with it."  
Harry nodded in quiet understanding. Draco strolled ahead quickly, as if the conversation was making him uncomfortable. Harry rushed after him. In a moment of bravery, he reached out, and grabbed Draco's hand. Draco glanced down and then looked back up. He smiled shyly. Harry grinned and swung their hands back and forth as they walked. Draco giggled and then clamped his free hand over his mouth, as if he was surprised to find himself so happy.

"Can I ask what this is?" Draco asked quietly.  
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.  
"I mean..." Draco sighed, and glanced down at their entwined hands. "What's going on between us? I just... look I just don't want to get my hopes up for nothing."  
"I don't know," Harry sighed, "You've got to understand, this is hard for me. I've only ever dated Ginny, and looking back on it now I don't even know if that was a very healthy relationship. I don't know who I like, and I find it hard to make decisions about this sort of stuff. I... I think I like you. But it's hard to accept that."  
"I get it," Draco smiled, "But if you really do like me, then I'll wait for you, for however long it takes for you to work things out. I'd wait forever." Draco turned away and blushed. He hadn't expected to say that much, but it had just kind of poured out of his mouth.  
Harry glanced over at him in surprised by what he'd just said. Suddenly overwhelmed, he spun himself around completely to face Draco, and used one hand to tilt Draco's chin upwards.  
"What are you doing Potter?" Draco muttered. Harry smirked slightly and then kissed Draco.

Draco froze up for a second, and then gently wrapped his arms around Harry's waist, pulling him closer. A few seconds later, Harry felt Draco move one hand up to run it through his hair. Harry pulled back slightly after a few seconds, and stared at Draco with a grin.  
"Your hair's a mess," Draco blurted out, before blushing slightly.  
"I'l take that as a compliment," Harry laughed, before pulling Draco back towards him and kissing him again.

"We've got to get back soon," Harry murmured after a while. "George is turning up later and we need to get a room ready."  
"We?" Draco asked, "That sounds like a job for you."  
"But then we could spend more time together," Harry grinned.  
Draco laughed softly. "Sounds good to me."  
"Well, I think we've done the talking we needed to," Harry joked, "Want to head back to the house?"  
"Yeah, let's do that," Draco agreed.  
***********  
When they arrived back to the house, Harry instantly wandered upstairs to sort out a room for George. A while later, Draco wandered into the room, holding two mugs of coffee. He put his own mug down on the dusty bedside table, and wandered across the room towards Harry, who was crouched on the floor, trying to fix a broken floorboard. Draco crouched down by his side and gently shook his shoulder.  
"Coffee," Draco said softly, "Thought you might need it, with all this hard work."  
Harry looked up with a grateful grin. "Thank you," he smiled, taking the mug, and then taking a sip of it. Draco sat down on the carpet by his side and glanced at the floor.  
"You're using the wrong spell," Draco told him. He pulled his wand from his back pocket and pointed it at the floor, muttering a spell under his breath. It was instantly fixed.  
"You're so clever," Harry grinned.  
"No, you just never listened in charms class," Draco laughed. Harry stood up and stretched out his legs.

Harry pulled out his wand and moved a few objects into place in the room. Meanwhile, Draco cleared away the last of the dust. Kreacher dashed in at one point to clear away their empty coffee mugs. Just as they were finishing up, there was a knock at the front door.  
"That'll be George," Harry muttered, heading out of the room. He rushed down to open the door. When he pulled it open, George was standing there, holding a few bags.  
"Hi, come on in," Harry grinned, stepping aside to let him in. Draco padded down the stairs as Harry shut the door.  
"Hi Draco," George said with a kind nod.  
"I'll show you to your room," Harry told him, heading away up the stairs. George followed after him, and Draco disappeared off into one of the downstairs rooms.

Harry led George to the room, and showed him inside.  
"Well, I'll leave you to get settled in I suppose," Harry said, "I think I'll go and see what Draco's up to."  
"Okay," George replied, already opening the wardrobe to check it out, "I'll find you once I've out my stuff away."  
Harry headed back downstairs. He peered into the living room, and found Draco laying upside down in an armchair, his head brushing the floor, and his legs swinging above him.  
"What the actual fuck are you doing?" Harry laughed. Draco instantly struggled to sit up, and instead slipped off the chair. Harry laughed and rushed over to help him up to his feet. "George is just putting his stuff away," Harry explained.  
"So... what's it going to be like with him staying here?" Draco asked, "I don't really want him to know everything."  
"It'll be fine," Harry told him, "We're not telling him anything for the moment."  
"Okay," Draco nodded happily. He stepped slightly closer to Harry, when there were suddenly footsteps on the stairs. Draco jumped away from him and spun around to face the bookshelf. Harry peered out of the living room door as George came around the corner.

"Anyone fancy throwing a ball around on brooms or something?" George asked.  
Draco spun around, looking more interested. "I haven't been on a broom for ages. Sounds fun!" He grinned.  
Harry nodded in agreement. "Could be fun. IS your broom here, Draco?"  
"Yeah, I have it upstairs," Draco replied.  
"Let's go get them then!" George said enthusiastically, turning around and rushing away.  
Harry and Draco both watched him go. "He seems happier already," Draco stated.  
"Yeah, he really does," Harry nodded. "What about you? How are you today?" He asked, turning around to face Draco with a small smile.  
"Really good," Draco replied, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards into a smile.  
"Let's go get brooms, then," Harry said, reaching out for Draco's arm to pull him out of the room and up the stairs.

Once they were gathered out in the garden, George produced a quaffle from out of nowhere, apparently having brought it with him. He threw it upwards, and they all pushed off up into the air, reaching up for it. Harry managed to garb onto the ball, and instantly flew back to join the other two.  
"Okay, what are we playing?" Harry asked, hovering in place and throwing the quaffle up in the air and catching it again and few times.  
"Just practising some catching I guess," George replied, reaching out his hands for the ball. Harry chucked it to him, and then turned his broom around and soared off in the other direction. He saw movement in the corner of his eye, and then Draco was flying by his side. Harry flew in a full circle, and smiled as Draco copied his movements, keeping up with him perfectly. Suddenly, a quaffle soared past Draco, skimming his nose. Harry reached out and caught it with one hand.  
For a while they flew around, passing the bull to each other. Eventually, Draco slowed down, and called the others towards him with a wave. They flew into a circle.  
"Let's make this more interesting," Draco said with a smirk. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. "Accio snitch!" He yelled. There were a few silent seconds, during which George and Harry looked at each other and Draco in confusion. Then, a snitch appeared in the air in front of them, glinting in the evening sunlight. Draco grabbed it quickly and held it out in front of him.  
"Okay," Draco said, "Let's see who can catch this. The person that catches it wins, and then the game's over."  
"We know how quidditch works," Harry laughed.  
"Wait, no fair!" George called, "You're both seekers! I've got no chance!"  
"Well you'll just have to try!" Harry grinned. 

Draco held out his hand, and released the snitch, which instantly darted off. Harry and Draco raced after it, side by side, with George following behind them. As the snitch suddenly darted in another direction, Harry turned his broom as quickly as possible. Draco however, was quicker, and raced in front of Harry, one hand outstretched in the direction of the snitch. For another ten minutes, they chased it together, until Draco managed to grasp it.  
"Draco wins," Harry sighed as they all slowed their brooms down.  
"I had no chance of winning," George sighed with a shake of his head.  
"Should have tried harder," Draco laughed.  
"Dinner now?" Harry suggested.  
"Sounds like a plan!" Draco grinned, pushing his broom down and heading towards the ground.

They dragged their brooms inside and stored them by the back door. By the time they got inside, Kreacher was putting food down onto the table.  
"Thank you, Kreacher," Harry grinned, sitting down and smiling to himself as Draco instantly sat down by his side. George sat opposite them and they began to eat quietly.  
"Thanks for letting me stay, Harry," George said with a grin after swallowing a mouthful of food.  
"No problem," Harry replied with a nod.  
"Is it just a thing you're doing now?" George asked, "Taking people in, I mean. You've got Draco here as well."  
"People can stay here if they want to," Harry said with a shrug. "Just seems like the right thing to do I guess." George smiled, and finished his meal quietly, seemingly thinking about something. Draco subtly put his hand on Harry's knee under the table, and for the first time in a while, Harry felt truly happy.


	14. Chapter 14

They spent the evening in the living room, with the radio playing quietly in the corner. Eventually, George started to yawn a lot, and eventually declared that he needed to sleep.  
"See you in the morning," Harry called as George headed upstairs. Draco echoed Harry's call, and George grinned at them as he walked away. "So," Harry said once they were sure George had gone, "How are you?"  
Draco laughed slightly at Harry's awkwardness, and shuffled closer to him on the sofa. "I'm good," he replied quietly, "Just... wondering how things are going to be between us with George here."  
"It'll all be fine," Harry told him, reaching out and putting his hand on top of Draco's. "Time for bed?" Harry suggested.  
"Time for bed," Draco agreed.

They wandered upstairs, and after checking that George wasn't around, Harry pulled Draco into his room.  
"Wait, what if George sees me coming out of here in the morning?" Draco whispered. Harry laughed softly, and then cast a few spells on the room so George wouldn't hear them talking.  
"Look," Harry said, wandering over to a hook on the door and pulling down his invisibility cloak.  
"What is that?" Draco asked. Harry smirked, and then pulled the cloak on, laughing as Draco stared in shock. "You have an invisibility cloak?" Draco exclaimed excitedly.  
"Yeah," Harry grinned, "See, everything will be fine."  
"Fine," Draco smiled. "Wait, I don't have my pyjamas."  
Harry handed over the cloak. "Go get your things and meet me back here in a bit," he told him. Draco pulled the cloak on excitedly, staring in amazement as he disappeared from view. Harry laughed, and sat back and watched as Draco wandered out of the room. Whilst he was gone, Harry changed into his pyjamas, and then settled himself on the bed.

Five minutes later, the door swung open and then shut again, and then Draco appeared after pulling off the cloak.  
"How long have you had this thing for?" Draco asked as he hung it back up.  
"Ages," Harry laughed.  
"No wonder you were always sneaking around," Draco sighed. He dropped down the small bag of things he had brought with him, and pulled out his pyjamas. "Could you maybe not watch?" Draco asked as he went to take of his shirt. Harry gave him a small smile, and then turned his head away. There was a while of rustling movement sounds. "Okay, I'm done," Draco said after a while. Harry turned back around to see Draco crawling onto the bed beside him. Draco let out a small yawn, and Harry grinned at how cute he looked.  
"What are you looking at?" Draco asked shyly.  
"You," Harry admitted, "I can't believe everything that's happened today."  
"I've never been happier in my life," Draco smiled widely. Harry wrapped an arm around his shoulder, letting Draco lean into his side.  
"We should get some sleep," Harry sighed, grabbing the edge of the duvet and pulling it over them. Draco murmured in agreement, and curled up by Harry's side. "See you in the morning," Harry said, still sitting up and looking down at Draco. He leaned down and gently kissed Draco, before laying down next to him.

They had been laying there for a few minutes when Harry heard Draco whisper, "I don't want to go to sleep."  
Harry rolled over to look at Draco. "Why not?" He asked gently.  
"I don't want all of this to been a dream," Draco whispered, reaching out to grab the edge of Harry's shirt, as if to assure himself that it was all real.  
"It isn't," Harry told him, "I'll still be here when you wake up, I promise."  
Draco said nothing, but Harry could feel his warm breath on his face, and wondered if Draco had fallen asleep. "Thank you," Draco murmured suddenly, shocking Harry slightly, "This is everything I've ever wanted."  
Harry wasn't sure what to say, so he just pulled Draco closer to his side and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "Sleep well," he whispered quietly, and he heard Draco murmur something inaudible before he finally fell asleep. Harry lay there for a few more minutes, listening to the sounds of the house creaking, and eventually drifted into a deep sleep.

Harry woke up to find bright light streaming through the window. He sat up and spotted Draco sitting up in bed next to him, staring out of the window.  
"What are you looking at?" Harry asked, and smiled as Draco spun around to face him.  
"Just watching the sun rise," Draco said. Harry climbed out of bed and walked over to Draco's side.  
"You think George is awake?" He asked.  
"I haven't heard anything," Draco replied with a shrug, "But he might be."  
"I'll go and check," Harry said, "Should probably see if breakfast is ready too. It's a bit later than usual so Kreacher's probably already got it ready." He turned around to go, and then after a second thought, he spun back around and gently kissed Draco, before heading for the door.  
"I'll be down in a bit," Draco called after him.

When Harry wandered into the kitchen, George was already dressed and sat at the table, eating toast.  
"Nice pajamas," George said, glancing up at Harry and grinning. "You and Draco both overslept, hey?" He asked, looking slightly too curious.  
Harry shrugged as casually as he possibly could. "I was tired. Don't know what Draco's up to." George seemed to accept Harry's answer, and Harry sat down opposite him. Kreacher instantly rushed in with a mug of coffee and a plate of toast for him. He thanked the house elf, and then started eating silently.

"Morning," came a familiar voice from behind them after a while, and Harry looked up to see Draco walking in. "Kreacher, coffee please!" He called, and the instantly called out in reply. Draco dropped down into a seat next to Harry. "Morning, Potter," he muttered.  
"Morning," Harry replied with a small smile.  
"So, do you guys want to help me with the shop today?" George asked a while later.  
Harry looked up with a grin, "Sure!" He agreed.


End file.
